A Second Chance
by midatlantic
Summary: Future fic! Blaine is a Social Worker in Columbus, OH working with troubled teens in a residential home.  Kurt is lost to him in the stratosphere of Hollywood.  A talented 16 year old boy is the catalyst that brings their worlds crashing back together.
1. Chapter 1

A Second Chance

Blaine stopped in the hallway and caught the eye of the counselor across the way. The sound of singing filled the corridor, an acoustic version of an old Lady Gaga classic. The door to room 21 was ajar and in the light of a bedside lamp Blaine could see the figure of a boy strumming on his guitar intently.

"He's got quite the voice," whispered Steve sidling up to Blaine. There was a reverence to the hushed tones he used as neither man wished to disturb the kid and draw attention to his impromptu audience. The boy had not been at Trevor's House for long and was having a rough time settling in. Blaine hoped that his singing showed that he was beginning to let his guard down.

The two men listened in silence for a moment longer until the spell was shattered by the influx of ten teenagers returning from the cinema trip. They invaded the hall, chattering loudly, quoting the best lines of the movie back and forth to each other at the tops of their voices. They jostled Blaine and Steve in a joking manner and shouted a variety of gentle, bantering insults in their direction. The guitar playing stopped instantly and the door to room 21 slammed shut.

"Not quite the breakthrough then," Steve stated to Blaine, as he moved automatically to head off the growing chaos of the teenage boys returning and to encourage them to start settling down before bed. Blaine breathed a sigh of disappointment and headed off the floor. His shift was over and he knew his friends would be waiting by the front door, anxious to head out for Friday night drinks.

That weekend he mulled over the enigma that was Jack, the new occupant of room 21. As one of the Social Work team at the Trevor House in Columbus OH` , it was his job to provide therapeutic support to each of the boys on his floor. This meant helping the boys settle in, setting them up in appropriate educational provision, engaging them in direct work such as setting goals for their stay at Trevor House, and hopefully over time providing a space for the boys to begin to work through some of the trauma of their previous lives.

Blaine was damn good at his job too. Usually the boys would settle with him and open up quickly but Jack had so far refused any and all sessions that he had offered. The counselors reported that he rarely left his room and avoided all the other boys on the floor. He had also refused all offers of educational input, which was frustrating as his transcripts from his freshman year at high school showed a smart kid with an aptitude to learn. His sophomore grades had fallen off but given the written accounts of Jack's last few months from the teachers that knew him, this was not at all surprising.

There was a handwritten note in the file that looked as though it had been surreptitiously slipped in by one of Jack's teacher that outlined a number of episodes of homophobic bullying that had taken place at the school. What followed was a heart wrenching statement from the teacher about how a number of staff had tried to intervene but their efforts to protect Jack only appeared to exacerbate the problem. The final paragraph talked about the deep distress and worry that the staff had felt when Jack disappeared and the relief when, three months later, the Trevor House called them for information.

It was clear to Blaine that Jack was a kid who had been highly regarded at least by some of the adults in his life. This was good to know as the boy who had walked in to Trevor House had been almost off putting in his refusal to engage. Staff had reported moments when he had become very angry, verbally abusive and had even raised a fist to punch a counselor when he felt that the counselor was becoming too pushy and intrusive. As a result Jack was still on the highest level of restrictions as no staff member felt that they could accurately assess his ability to keep himself and others around him safe.

By Sunday Blaine was frustrated with the amount of his own emotional energy that he was spending thinking about this kid. Blaine had worked with troubled teens pretty much as soon as he stopped being one. He had volunteered in youth clubs while at college and his first job had been working as a teaching assistant in an inner city high school in Chicago. He had decided to go in to Social Work rather than teaching as he felt that he wanted more freedom to engage with teenagers on their level rather than being restricted by any curriculum or other structure imposed on him. He was now almost thirty and had learnt very early on that the only way to stay sane and not burn out was to not bring the job home and to have a full social life on his own time.

But Jack was wheedling his way in to Blaine's thoughts throughout the weekend. While meeting with friends on Friday night he had discussed the boy. On Saturday he had picked up a well-thumbed book about reaching isolated teens. During a gig on Saturday night he found himself comparing Jack's voice to the lead singer of the band he was watching. Finally he had a dream that he had not had for years, about a certain college student with an equally mesmerizing voice who had taken Blaine's heart when they were still in high school and trampled all over it.

Of course that was the problem, wasn't it? By Sunday afternoon, while trying to pound out his stress on a long run by the Olentangy River, Blaine had to accept that the reason Jack was bothering him so much was that his voice, coloring and certain mannerisms reminded him strongly of Blaine's first boyfriend Kurt. As a result, the distress that he was seeing radiating off of Jack felt far too much like it had come from Kurt instead.

Of course, logically Blaine knew that this was twelve years later and he certainly had no romantic feelings for Jack, but when he thought about the boy in room 21 he also saw the kid sitting across the table from him at Dalton, crying over a cup of coffee and explaining that he felt so alone and lost. Blaine stopped running, breathing hard at the view from the river of the Horseshoe stadium. He kicked the gravel under his feet in frustration. Kurt was long gone from his life and now living in the stratosphere of Hollywood, a world away from the boy that Blaine had driven to Lima to protect from a bully twice his size.

Jack was here though, and doing a good job at making Blaine feel insignificant by rebuffing his offers to help. Blaine was drawing a blank on how he would change things when he arrived back to work on Monday. He wondered if Kurt ever felt uninspired and helpless, but decided that his minions in LA kept him too busy. He doubted that Kurt ever felt lonely and out of his depth as he had legions of fans to surround him with adulation. Finally he wondered bitterly if Kurt ever thought about him. Angrily he turned around and began the run home. How pathetic that almost ten years and three irrelevant relationships later, Blaine was still so fixated on his high school sweetheart that he could not even distance himself professionally from a poor, lost sixteen year old boy.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Hello readers. Thank you for reading my story. I just want to assure you that I have no intention of Blaine forming a romantic relationship with Jack in any way. He is brilliant at his job and has not been interested in teenage boys since he was one. His heart is definitely in one place with a certain old flame in Hollywood…just so you know. : )_

* * *

Chapter 2

A scream echoed through the building at Trevor's House. Blaine booked it up the stairs to the second floor dorms to see a night staffer leaning heavily on the shut door to room 21 with a look of total resignation on her face. A few other staff members appeared on the floor and stood silently watching while everyone tried to assess the situation.

"Jack, come on honey, you need to eat something. This is beyond ridiculous".

"NO!"

The counselor looked at Blaine with a total look of frustration. The door was locked from the inside but the staff had the keys to override this. Of course they only would do that in an emergency.

"How long has this been going on for?" Blaine asked. He had not yet had time to read the weekend handover notes and so was feeling a bit behind.

"He has not come out of his room all weekend. On Saturday Doris broke down and brought him food in his room as she could not stand the thought of him starving himself. Since then he has been living off peanut butter sandwiches and juice that staff have been bringing him. Apart from thanking staff for the food and returning the empty plates, he has not interacted with anyone. Now it's Monday morning and the School Side say that he has to be in education but he is flatly refusing."

"What was the scream about?"

"I'm not sure but I think he is getting as frustrated as I am. He is clearly OK but he is begging to be left alone. I don't know what to do."

Blaine stepped up to her and saw the tiredness in her eyes. She had been up all night monitoring the hallways to ensure the boys were all safe and asleep. This was the end of her shift and Blaine knew she had college in a few hours.

"Go home, I'll take it from here," he said. He also nodded to the other staff members on the floor. "I've got this. I'll radio you if I need anything. Please tell the School Side that we will be down when Jack is ready."

The staff left the floor one by one leaving Blaine to stare at a locked door. He racked his brains to think about the next step. He heard nothing from the other side of the door but guessed that Jack was probably leaned up against it listening intently.

Blaine took a seat on the floor and leant back against the door and decided to wait Jack out.

After about 10 minutes he heard the lock disengage and felt the door swing open away from him by half an inch. He squinted in to the darkness of the room behind him but made no effort to move. Silence.

"What are you doing?" came the disembodied voice from inside the room.

"Waiting for you," Blaine replied.

There was a soft snort of frustrated amusement in response to this. "Look I'm not coming out and I don't want to talk. Please just leave me alone."

Blaine took a deep breath and weighed his next words carefully. The door had not been shut again so he took this as a positive step. "You've been alone for a long time Jack. I'm worried about you."

Blaine could hear shuffling inside the room. He did not move. He felt like he was gentling a scared animal, just letting Jack get used to him being there, trying hard not to spook him. About ten minutes passed before eventually the door opened a couple more inches and he could see a knee near the doorway suggesting that Jack was sitting on the floor.

"Are you going to just sit there?" Jack asked in bemusement.

"Yes… unless you are hungry and want to raid the kitchen," Blaine replied.

Jack seemed to consider this but said nothing.

"I heard you playing the guitar the other night," Blaine said. "Where did you learn to play?"

"Taught myself."

"That's impressive. You sing well too."

"I know," Jack replied.

Blaine smiled slightly at the pride he heard in Jack's voice. At least there was something in Jack's life that he knew was worth something. Blaine felt it was a good sign that he tolerated the compliments so well.

"Do you play?" Jack asked.

Blaine felt a pang of emotion go through him. "I used to." He suddenly was hit with a flood of memories of him and Kurt messing around with different vocal arrangements while he strummed away on his guitar. They were mostly really happy memories but after the relationship ended he had found it too painful to play often and gradually the guitar had slipped out of his life.

"I don't think I could ever stop. It's like my left hand or something," Jack said.

"I know what you mean. I used to feel like that."

"So why did you stop playing?"

"That's a good question. I don't know that I have a good answer. Life just got in the way I guess."

"That sucks."

"Yes."

Silence followed this rather bald statement. Blaine continued to just sit, allowing Jack to make the next move.

"I hate it here."

"Why?"

"Why do you think? This place sucks. There are so many rules and everybody wants to be in you business. The other kids are all losers."

Blaine smiled a bit at this. "They are not all losers. I think you probably would quite like them if you gave them a chance."

"I'm leaving."

"Where are you going to go to?"

"Dunno but anywhere is better than this dump."

Blaine knew full well that he was being tested. He had heard too many kids say things like this and the reality was that if Jack had somewhere else to go he would have left already or would not have agreed to come in the first place.

"Where were you before you came here?"

"At a mate's house."

"How was that?"

"Fine, I guess. There were a lot of people there."

"Did you feel safe there?"

"Sure. Why not? I can look after myself."

Blaine did not miss the puffed up bravado.

"What kind of people were there?"

"All sorts. They just came and went. It wasn't really my mate's house. It was like an empty house I guess that people had moved in to. Anyone could go there you know. There were no locks or anything."

"It sounds pretty scary to me."

"Yeah, that's 'cause you are a wuss. I mean look at you, you wouldn't survive a single night on the streets. You'd get your ass kicked so fast."

"I'm sure that's true," Blaine said with no heat in his voice.

There was another pause. Slowly Jack opened the door a little more and the light from the hallway hit his face.

"You're weird, "Jack said.

"I know," responded Blaine.

Another silence hit.

"So how did you keep your guitar safe in a place like that?" Blaine asked.

"Oh…well I was using it to busk to get some money. At night I found an empty dumpster a few streets away from the house. It had like this really heavy lid on it and it was outside an abandoned building site. I put it in there in its case, and then loaded some cinder blocks on the top to make it look like it hadn't been opened."

Blaine felt a bit sick to his stomach. Knowing how much the guitar meant to the kid he could just imagine how hard it must have been for him to take that risk every night. It also spoke volumes about the place that Jack was staying if that was a preferable option than keeping the guitar with him every night.

"Could you have asked a friend to look after it?"

"I don't have any real friends anymore," Jack said blankly.

Blaine took a moment to process this.

"What about leaving the guitar at home?" It was definitely a risky moment to ask about home and Blaine felt himself take in a silent breath and hold it while trying to look as relaxed as possible to Jack.

Jack raised his thumb to his mouth and started gnawing on his nail. "I haven't spoken to my Dad in a while. I kind of wanted to prove to him that I could manage on my own and I did not want to go crawling back to him begging for help. Besides he's not interested in me anymore."

Blaine knew there was volumes of stuff under that statement but he let it go, relieved that Jack had not slammed the door shut and retreated all the way back in to his room.

At that point Blaine's stomach growled. Jack smiled a bit. Blaine laughed and said "Look I'm hungry and heading down to the kitchen. No one will be down there right now. Do you want to come and raid the fridge for leftovers?"

Jack looked at him suspiciously. "I don't want to go to school."

Blaine looked at him and decided to take things very slowly. "Look I'll level with you," he said. "I can't leave you alone as you are meant to be in school right now and as you already said, there are loads of rules here. How about we get some food, you can bring your guitar and then we can go to my office and I will clear some of the paperwork that is covering my desk while you keep me company?"

Jack thought about this for a minute and then said "I am not willing to get therapised or whatever shit it is that you think you are going to do to me."

Blaine laughed. "I promise, no therapising (great word by the way). I genuinely will leave you alone… and I have candy."

That seemed to do it. Jack got to his feet and grabbed his guitar. "Fine but it had better not be the shit candy – I expect Reese's pieces and Red Vines."

"I'll see what I can do."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_A/N Thanks so much for the alerts and reviews. It is amazing to think that people are actually reading my ramblings. Please do keep reviewing so that I know how you think it is going._

* * *

"Disney songs… really?" Jack crowed scrolling through Blaine's Ipod.

It had been about a week since Jack had first agreed to come out of his room. They had set up a temporary ritual where Jack would spend the mornings that he was meant to be in class in Blaine's office. The teachers in the in-house education part of the residential had started sending up school assignments for Jack to do but mostly he would lounge on Blaine's couch, messing with his guitar and snarking about whatever came to mind.

Blaine rolled his eyes at the dig about his music preferences. "One day, little boy, you will understand the genius that is Disney."

"Little boy?" Jack groaned with a big smile on his face. "Loser, my seven year old sister loves Disney – you are meant to grow out of it you know."

"Well, consider it an ode to my inner seven year old girl then."

"You are a FREAK!" Jack stated delightedly.

Blaine realized that he had never heard Jack mention his sister before. He knew that Jack had a younger sister and brother, it was on his files, but Jack never mentioned home even in passing. Blaine filed this information away for use on another day.

"So Jack, let's talk about school."

"No". The atmosphere in the room shifted dramatically.

Blaine turned fully around in his chair and looked at Jack. Jack stared back at him with a determined look on his face, his guitar over his belly protectively, body rigid waiting for Blaine's next move.

He took a beat to think about his next words. "Can we just talk about options? I am not going to ask you to do anything today."

Jack just looked at him from hooded eyes. His light brown fringe had fallen over his face and he was currently using it as a shield to hide behind.

"I am not going to your stupid school," he said sharply.

"OK, I just want you to know what the options are." Blaine paused but felt it best to continue. "As you know we have educational facilities in the home and the teachers here will be able to tutor you easily to help you catch up on the school work you have missed …"

"I AM NOT GOING TO YOUR STUPID SCHOOL," Jack ground out slowly in a raised voice, with as much venom and force as he could put behind each word.

He suddenly sat bolt upright on the sofa and Blaine sensed that the guitar in his hand had become a viable weapon rather than his safety blanket. Blaine felt his heart rate speed up but kept his face carefully schooled and made sure to keep very still.

"Why Jack?"

"Because I am not. You can NOT force me." Jack voice was lower and he was hunched over on himself but the tension in his muscles suggested he could spring at Blaine at any time. Blaine struggled hard not to break eye contact but wondered where his radio was in case he needed it.

"OK. What about the local high school? It would be harder to catch up and I worry you would get lost in the crowd but…"

Jack's face drained of all color and he looked like he was going to be sick. He curled his whole upper body over his guitar and hid his face from Blaine.

Blaine allowed the silence to gather around them until he heard a sob coming from the boy. He could see Jack's back shaking as the boy struggled to hold himself together.

Blaine desperately wanted to move to the couch to comfort Jack but he was not sure how the boy would react to that. Instead he pushed a box of tissues across the floor and decided to wait him out.

"Please don't make me go to school." Jack's voice was pitiful and he sounded so young. Blaine was reminded of his sister's five year old son, whimpering in bed after a nightmare. His heart started to ache for Jack.

"Buddy, you are a smart kid. I would not be looking out for you if I allowed you to screw up your life by quitting school now."

Jack looked up at him, tears streaming down his face. "Look I'll do anything. I'll come here every day. I'll do all the work the teachers send up. I'll work in my room. I'll write the best essays and I'll get all my homework correct. Just please, don't make me go to school."

Blaine took a deep breath and tried to swallow the cold stone that had settled in his stomach. The kid looked as though he was pleading for his life.

"Help me understand Jack. What happened?"

Jack stared at him mutely and then lowered his head. Suddenly he jumped up and yanked the door open, charging out of the room, running as fast as he could. Blaine took off after him but slowed when he saw Jack open the door to the second floor dorms. By the time he had walked on to the floor he saw the door to room 21 slammed shut.

Blaine radioed for a counselor and asked them to just sit in the hallway to make sure that Jack was OK. He had a phone call to make.

* * *

Two hours later, Blaine was not feeling any better. He had tracked down the teacher, Mr. Gibbs who had left the handwritten note in Jack's file. The man had reminded Blaine of Mr. Schuester, a caring guy who had tried a lot, but felt that he had failed to keep a favorite student of his safe. They had talked for about an hour.

Mr. Gibbs described Jack in his freshman year as a stand out student. He worked hard on his studies and showed a natural aptitude in music and dramatics. His literature work was also top notch. He seemed to get on well socially and had a solid group of friends within the theatre group. He seemed happy.

Then towards the end of his freshman year a rumor circulated the school that Jack had tried to kiss a varsity jock named Trent. Mr. Gibbs said that things had gone south very quickly. He did not know many of the details as most of what took place happened outside of the teacher's influence.

Jack started showing up to school with bruises and constantly seemed to be harassed. There was a rumor of a YouTube campaign against him – something about a set up "Punk'd" style that the kids seemed very excited about. Jack just appeared to withdraw in on himself.

Mr. Gibbs said that after the summer he had been shocked by Jack's appearance. He had lost a lot of weight and his spark appeared to have died. He no longer signed up for the music or drama projects and had actually screamed at Mr. Gibbs to leave him alone when he encouraged him to participate.

Mr. Gibbs said that he had pulled Jack in to his room a few times to talk but Jack would not say anything or would insist that he was fine and that the bullying had stopped. Mr. Gibbs said that the bruises did seem to vanish and he did not see him getting as much hassle in the halls but this did not stop him worrying about the kid. Jack's attendance at school had dropped dramatically and he was cutting a lot of classes. His grades were also disastrous.

Then one day in May a girl came in to his office and said that she had seen Jack in one of the girls' bathrooms crying. She said that she also thought he had been sick. Mr. Gibbs had gone to find him immediately but Jack had not been on the school premises any more. He found a kid who had been a freshman friend and asked for Jack's cell number only to be told that Jack had stopped carrying a phone a few months before. Mr. Gibbs reported the boy missing to the police and his father and then heard nothing about him for three months until Trevor's House called for information.

Blaine asked about the boy's family. Mr. Gibbs' tone changed. He became increasingly irate as he described the lack of attention that Jack's father appeared to show. This had not always been the case, he reported. During Jack's freshman year his father had appeared at all the parent teacher conferences and seemed proud of Jack's accomplishments in the Christmas and Spring music revues.

In the summer when the bullying began, his father had been on the phone frequently. He had also stormed the head's office a few times demanding to know what they were going to do to stop the bruises. However when Jack returned for his sophomore year, it was as though his father had vanished. He never returned Mr. Gibbs' phone calls and seemed totally disengaged. When Mr. Gibbs called him to say that Jack was missing, his father expressed some initial concern and then thanked him for the information and finally said something about Jack making his own choices.

The disgust in Mr. Gibbs voice was clear. Blaine asked about his mother and Mr. Gibbs confirmed the file report that she had died of cancer when Jack was twelve. He said that Jack had never really spoken about any other family members and no one else stepped forward as an interested party when Jack seemed to struggle in school.

* * *

Blaine sat staring at his computer. He was not achieving anything today. The details were sketchy but the picture of Jack's last few years was frightening. He kept flashing to different memories of Karofsky and Kurt. He had always admired Kurt's bravery in standing up to Karofsky and returning to McKinley from Dalton so that he wouldn't be seen to be running away.

Blaine thought back to his own bullying in middle school and high school and the group beat down that he got when some boys found a George Michael CD in his backpack. The broken wrist that he had sustained in that attack had been the impetus that sparked his parents' decision to move him to Dalton.

He could still remember the sick feeling in his stomach when the jeering would start. The shouts down the corridor and the new insults being thrown around as his tormentors would follow him out of the school. He could still feel the adrenaline from the mad dash across the car park and the sprint for home which sometimes he would reach safely and sometimes he wouldn't. He remembered clearly trying to explain away different marks, bruises and black eyes to his parents as soccer injuries. But his sister, Laney, would know the truth, she always did and she would track him down after dinner and make him tell her what was going on. Then she would hold him while he cried. He would never forget that total feeling of helplessness. It was the same feeling that Kurt reflected to him after the fateful spying trip to Dalton.

His memories did not halt in high school. Later in college, in junior year, he had decided to run for president of the LGBTQ society at the same time as Kurt ran for vice-president for Arts and Culture in Student Government. Neither of them had been expecting the shit-storm that came their way. By and large, they had been well tolerated as an out gay couple in the student dorms and so it had never occurred to them that the politics of student government campaigns could get so nasty. Suddenly all types of hate campaign material started flying around, including slanderous accusations of infidelity, deeply unpleasant insinuations about their sexual preferences and off-campus activities, and finally bags of dog shit and eggs were thrown against their door.

Looking back, Blaine felt that the stress of that year marked the beginning of the end of their relationship. Mark soon appeared as a regular fixture in Kurt's life and Blaine felt the strands of their love begin to disintegrate one piece at a time.

After radioing down to the second floor to confirm that Jack was OK but still requesting to be left alone, Blaine contemplated the work on his desktop. He resisted the urge to google Kurt for the thousandth time. He knew it was never a healthy sign when he started to cyberstalk his ex. Instead he gathered his things and decided to call it quits early today. He hoped a date with a swimming pool might help him to process the difficult day that he had just had.

* * *

_A/N: Sorry this story is turning quite angsty. I am realising that Jack's issues are going to be pretty massive. If you aren't up for reading about pretty serious trauma including mention of previous sexual assault (nothing explicit), I totally understand if you stop reading now._

_On a better note Kurt will appear in the next chapter I think… and in my head there will be some great fluffy times coming down the pike. I just feel these characters have a lot more going on than I originally realized._


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: The language in this chapter is getting harsher. I don't think that breaks the bounds of a T rating (although I think it's likely this story will be M by the time I am done)… but just so you know… you have been warned._

* * *

Chapter 4

The next morning Jack came to Blaine's room as if nothing had happened. He glanced resignedly at the huge stack of books and assignments on the couch waiting for him.

"Here's the deal," Blaine said, "I have got a week's worth of school work for you to do. You can do this here with me or in the library when I am seeing the other boys. We will then meet with your teachers next week to review the assignments and see how the situation is settling down. You will hold up to your end of the bargain and study hard so that I don't regret making this massive exception for you."

Jack nodded eagerly. "I won't let you down."

"Jack, this is a temporary fix. I spoke to Mr. Gibbs," Jack's head shot up at this and he looked panicked, Blaine raised a hand soothingly to calm him and continued, "he told me a bit about what was going on and I know it was bad. I will be here for you to talk to when you are ready, but my hope is that you will be in class by the end of the month."

Jack chewed on his bottom lip and looked uncertain. "What if I'm not ready?"

"Well, we'll discuss that then."

Jack agreed reluctantly and looked at the pile of work in front of him.

"He doesn't know anything, you know."

"Who doesn't, Jack?"

"Mr. Gibbs. He was nice and all but he doesn't know what happened."

"OK. Well I kind of only want to hear it from you anyway."

Jack swallowed and then nodded. He picked up the top book and gave a loud sigh. Then he flopped on to his back on the couch, sprawling the entire length of it and began reading.

Blaine smiled to himself, dug out a pen and some paper for Jack, and then turned back to his own work.

* * *

Two weeks later, Jack had monopolised Blaine's computer "for research". Blaine was getting kind of exasperated with his lack of "alone time" but the rest of the staff reported that Jack had made some serious gains in socialising with the other kids and interacting positively with staff. He no longer needed to be coaxed out of his room for meals and was getting far better at joining in with the general banter and chaos of dorm life. He seemed to be using his "one on one" time with Blaine as a way of anchoring himself and feeling more secure and this was having positive effects throughout the home.

There had been very little further conversation of any substance and Jack spent most of the time with Blaine being a goofball or telling him about the latest gossip in the dorm. He also was studying quite a bit although Blaine suspected that his most productive time was happening in the library in the afternoons as there was no way he would be getting the grades he was if he was merely handing in the work he was finishing in Blaine's office. Blaine knew that he, himself, was taking a lot of work home because his productivity had dramatically dropped with the new arrangement. Still the payoff was huge.

On this day Blaine was sitting on the floor with his back against the couch and his papers spread around him while Jack took over his desk and laptop. Blaine hoped that there actually was a Geography project on Madagascar and that Jack was not surreptitiously watching porn.

"What a stupid faggot."

Blaine froze where he sat. The comment had been said casually and when he finally turned towards Jack he seemed completely engrossed in whatever was on the computer screen.

"What did you say?" Blaine asked tentatively.

Jack looked over at him. "I was talking about this stupid prick in Hollywood. You know the guy who is playing the young Calvin Klein in that TV series about fashion designers in the 1960s?"

Blaine's stomach dropped. "What about him?"

"E! News is saying that he's quit the show. It's something about a sex tape that's been leaked showing him with one of the other leads. Anyway he's a total pussy and he's walked out because he can't take the heat."

Blaine's brain felt like it was melting down. The professional side of him was screaming over the multiple nasty words that Jack had just spouted. The rest of him wanted to snatch the laptop out of Jack's hands and google everything he could on the subject. He just sat there frozen with his jaw hanging open.

"I mean seriously, the guy is loaded. He has so much money. I bet there were drugs involved. They don't say that but there always is…" Jack tailed off, clearly scanning his way through the article. "It says here, "that while it is widely known that Kurt Hummel is an out and proud gay actor, the fans are surprised that Ashton Brave has been caught up in this controversy. His wife of five years has yet to make a statement but it seems that Brave has already begun moving his belongings out of the family home." See? He wasn't even the one that was outed, and he's the quitter. What a bunch of bullshit."

Blaine's brain was finally beginning to catch up with his ears. "Jack, this isn't any of our business. Those people are real people you know. They deserve more respect than that."

Jack snorted and carried on reading. "Dude, they are just fags caught with their pants down. Come on, lighten up, it's hilarious."

"Jack, stop," Blaine's voice was shaking with the effort it took to keep his tone in check.

Jack looked up from the computer and in to Blaine's eyes for the first time since the conversation started. What he saw caused him to turn the chair around and face Blaine fully face to face.

"What the fuck, dude? What's your problem?"

"Jack, you've said about ten offensive things in the last five minutes of conversation, mostly against gay men. Why is that?"

Jack looked taken aback. "It wasn't about gay men. It was about these two dickheads. I mean look at this Hummel guy," he said indicating a picture of Kurt in a colorful, elegant couture outfit, "he is SO gay. I mean look at the way he dresses and stuff, I mean he might as well scream it to the World."

Blaine balled up his fists hard until the nails were biting in to his palms. He knew that Jack had no idea who Kurt was and so to him this was a purely academic conversation about a gossip column story in the press. Blaine could feel the anger building up inside him.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom. Please will you focus on your geography project and we will talk about this when I get back."

Jack looked at him nonplussed as Blaine shut his office door quickly behind him. Once in the corridor he leaned back against the door and found himself breathing heavily. His heart was racing and he was not thinking straight. He bolted to the staff bathroom and washed his face, trying to get a handle on himself. He knew that he was missing something glaringly obvious, but he could not figure it out.

He settled himself on the floor of the bathroom, leaning back against the wall and thought through what had just happened. Kurt had quit his job in Hollywood but that did not affect Blaine. The circumstances were concerning but again, so NOT his problem. Right now he had a confused teenager in his office who had just used some of the most offensive language that Blaine had heard strung together in years, and… wait…the file and Mr. Gibbs had been very clear that Jack is gay himself.

So what is going on?

Blaine picked himself up off the floor. He couldn't even process that those words had cut deep in to him as well. Right now none of this was about Blaine. He needed to focus on Jack, the kid who had been torn apart by bullies for being gay and now seemed ready to tear apart another man because he appeared too effeminate. There was something massively wrong with this picture.

"Jack, turn off the computer and come sit with me on the couch," Blaine said as he walked back in to his office.

Jack grumbled about this a bit but did as he was asked. When he was settled, he looked at Blaine and seemed wary about what was coming next.

"Look, I need to be honest with you," Blaine said. "I am very concerned about the conversation we just had. The words you used to describe those two guys were completely out of order."

Jack did not respond but instead stared at the rug and scuffed the toe of his Converse sneaker in to it.

"Mr. Gibbs told me that you were bullied at your old school for being gay."

Jack dropped his head in to his chest. Blaine decided to let the silence fall in the room.

"I'm not like that," Jack whispered quietly.

"Like what?" Blaine asked.

"Like that Hummel dude. I would never dress like that or act like that. I mean have you seen him? He couldn't walk down the street without someone knowing he's gay."

Blaine decided to leave Kurt out of this. "So what are you like?"

Jack was quiet for a minute and Blaine wondered if he was actually going to answer. "I'm not sure that I am gay. I mean maybe I'm not," Jack looked at Blaine with pleading in his eyes, "I mean I've been fucked by a couple of guys, but that doesn't mean anything, right? I could be straight if I wanted to be."

Blaine slowly reached out a hand and put it on Jack's shoulder. He weighed his next words very carefully. "Jack, a lot of kids at 16 don't know who they are or what they want, that's true. And no, getting fucked by some guys does not make you gay. But at the same time, a lot of kids who are gay also wish they were not and hope that if they want it enough they can make themselves straight."

Jack looked down at this hands and Blaine saw a tear slipping down his cheek.

"It's brought me nothing but trouble. I wish I wasn't gay. I've tried so hard to be straight but nothing seems to work."

Blaine felt a lump in his throat.

"I know that feeling Jack. I've been there," Jack looked up at him really quickly.

"You're gay?"

Blaine felt the shoulder under his hand stiffen up. Jack moved away from him a few inches on the couch and there was a flash of fear in the kid's eyes. Blaine stayed very still and quiet.

Jack curled himself in to a ball on the couch with his forehead on his knees. He turned away from Blaine.

"Gay men aren't very nice to me."

Blaine let out a deep breath he did not even realizing he was holding.

"Jack, I am not going to hurt you. I am not going to suddenly change. I am so grateful that you trusted me enough to admit that, rather than running through the door away from me."

Jack stayed quiet, curled up tightly in a ball.

Blaine sat quietly too and gave the boy his space. After a few minutes Blaine moved slowly over to his computer and opened the browser that Jack had been on. There in front of him was a second picture of Kurt, clearly taken by the paparazzi. He looked totally disheveled and out of sorts. Blaine could not help himself but reached out a finger to touch the picture on the computer screen wishing that he could send comfort to Kurt through the pixels of the photograph.

Well this was one hell of a mess.

* * *

_A/N: If you see any weird words, I hope you enjoy them. I am English but have spent a lot of time in the States…hence the penname midatlantic. Do let me know though if any of the words are not understandable because of that! _

_And yes folks…Kurt is coming home._


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Thank you all for the amazing feedback. I was totally just writing this for myself as it is quite therapeutic at the moment. I am amazed that so many people are joining me for the ride. Please don't forget to review as it's nice to know how everyone is finding it._

_This is a shorter chapter and comparatively angst free - and we are meeting a familiar friend. Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 5

Blaine sat in his apartment that night staring at a wall and nursing a beer. He had spent the last two hours on the internet facebooking friends and googling all sorts of scurrilous websites to see if there was any more information. So far it was the same news rehashed ten different ways and none of his friends appeared to have heard from Kurt.

Currently Blaine was having a two sided debate with himself. His protective side told him to stay out of it, that Kurt was no longer his business and he was the one who had had his heart broken when they split up. His heart however was not listening and kept coming up with crazy schemes to swoop in and be the knight in shining armour.

He was embarrassed to admit, even to himself, that he had gone so far as to check for flight options to LA, particularly as he had no address or contact details for Kurt. He did not even have his cell number anymore although he wondered idly if Mercedes would give it to him. But each time his fingers went to call her, he would kick himself again and remember that he had not spoken to Kurt since the break up nine years before. This was crazy.

But there was one option. He had not been there for years but he looked on the internet to see if it was still open and it was. He tapped the rim of his beer bottle against his teeth and contemplated his sanity. However it was almost midnight and he clearly wasn't going to be sleeping anytime soon. What did he have to lose?

* * *

He walked in to the sports bar. It had been updated since he last remembered it. It was located in a strip of bars just off High right beside the OSU campus. He remembered the last time he had been here with Kurt for OSU vs Florida in the Nationals game. The place had been jumping and Kurt had done a decent job of pretending he had some interest in what was going on around him. Blaine remembered the payback of a couple of opera tickets for the next weekend but it had been a great night.

Blaine had heard a rumour that the owner of the bar had changed hands about five years before and he found himself looking around for the familiar face who, supposedly, was now in charge. He ordered a beer and was just swallowing his disappointment when "Blaine? Dude is that really you?" and he was grabbed from behind in a ridiculous bearhug that lifted him off his feet.

"Hey, Finn. How's it going?"

Blaine was released from the hug and dumped back on to the barstool he had been pulled off of.

"Good man. How are you? Still saving the World?"

Blaine smiled a bit self-consciously, "Yup." Finn laughed and sat on the stool next to him.

"Man it's been a long time." Finn hadn't changed much. He had lost some of the boyish looks and his bone structure was definitely more defined, but he was in good shape and clearly doing well for himself.

"I heard you own this place now?"

"I know, crazy isn't it? It's like having my own college playground. Like I never grew up! It's totally awesome."

Blaine laughed. He looked around and he could see a stage in the background. "Is that just for you?" he joked.

"Nah, man. I mean, you know, karaoke nights and stuff, I'll usually do the last song, but it's mainly for gigs. It's cool to have though. We do talent contests and get community bands to come and perform. It helps fill the void between basketball and football season anyway. But wow, it's like totally weird that you're here – you haven't changed at all, except your hair is not quite the mophead you were sporting in college."

Blaine laughed. "You look good to. How's Shannon and the kids?"

"Aw…dude they are great. Jonah is in peewee football and you should see him throw a spiral. I'm telling you man, he'll be a future Heisman winner for sure. Dana is my little princess, although don't tell her that, she'll kick you in the shins. And Shannon is perfect as ever. What about you? Have you settled down yet?"

Blaine felt his cheeks flame slightly and he took a swig of his beer. "Nope. No one serious."

Finn just nodded and gave Blaine a kind of intrigued look.

"So, how is he?" Blaine asked, feeling like he was plunging off a high dive.

"Not great. I take it you've seen the news. There's not much I can tell you really as he's kind of not talking to anyone. Burt's got through a few times but he ends the conversations pretty quickly. I think Burt and Mum are trying to get him to come home for a bit and take a break, you know?"

"Are your folks still in Lima?"

"Nah. Kurt bought them a really cool house in Clintonville, just about fifteen blocks north of here. He said that he found coming home to Lima so claustrophobic, but of course Burt is a Buckeye through and through so there was never a suggestion of leaving the State. This was the compromise, so they could be nearer to me and Shannon. Burt got a good deal on his autoshop and was able to buy a business in Columbus. Mum has gone in to supply teaching, which she loves and seems really good at. I love it 'cause they are close and Kurt, I think, feels he can get some sort of anonymity when he visits, or at least more than in Lima. He says he always hated how everyone in the town would pretend they were his best friends whenever he would come back to visit. It used to drive him nuts."

Blaine started to digest this information. "So if Kurt does come home, he'll be in Columbus?"

Finn just smiled. "Yup," he said with a knowing grin as he took a swig from Blaine's beer.

Blaine wanted to kick him.

"So how about I get you another drink and we catch up on the crazy amount of time since I've seen you," Finn said nonchalantly.

* * *

Way too many beers later and about 1.30am Blaine found himself being pulled up on stage by an equally tipsy, long-lost, quasi step-brother.

"Dude, you've totally got to sing something. It's been way too long."

In his befuddled state Blaine wondered how his voice even sounded anymore. He hadn't sung anything in quite a while.

He didn't have much choice though as a microphone was shoved in his hand and the karaoke machine started up behind him.

He shot a total "fuck you" look towards Finn as the strains of "Teenage Dream" kicked in but belted it out anyway and was pleased to see some of the other drinkers coming towards the stage and dancing in appreciation. Maybe they were too drunk to notice that his voice was rough around the edges. He could see Finn wincing on a few of the notes but just flipped him off and carried on with a big smile on his face.

At the end of the song, Finn grabbed the second mike and they went to battle with "Dream On" by Aerosmith. Blaine could feel his vocal muscles complaining as he screeched out the high notes in total rocker style. Finally they ended up with a crowd pleasing belter of "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi. By this point every person in the bar was on their feet cheering and Blaine and Finn laughed as they stepped forward to take a bow.

Man that had felt really good. He totally knew he was going to pay for this in the morning with a hangover, no sleep and a packed day, but right now the adrenaline was pumping through him and he felt like he could conquer the world.

"Dude, look."

He squinted down at the phone in front of him and read the text that Finn was holding up.

"Finn, I'm on my way home. I can't take it anymore. Please tell Dad not to pick me up at the airport. I'll get a cab. See you tomorrow. Kx"

Blaine felt the bottom drop out of his World.

Oh shit! This was really happening.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Here's Kurt!_

* * *

Chapter 6 - Kurt's POV

The plane was delayed of course. Why was it that when you needed planes to be late they were always on time, but when you were at the airport two hours early and gagging to go, they were delayed? Kurt breathed a deep, frustrated sigh and attempted to glance around the terminal without making eye contact with anyone.

He was flying as incognito as possible. In fact his current outfit reminded him of a mix between the bushtracker outfit he sported for his "straight week" at McKinley and something Finn would wear. In fact he was pretty certain that the puffer jacket he was wearing was actually Finn's and that it had been left at his apartment on the last visit to L.A. He didn't know how his brother managed to cope in these jackets. Kurt felt like the Michelin man.

He shifted in his seat and pulled his collar up further over his mouth and his hat further down around his ears. He had forsaken dark glasses, because really, is there ever a more glaring neon sign that you are a celebrity trying not to be noticed than wearing dark glasses indoors?

He was itching to get on the plane now, although the prospect of five hours in a three seat row squashed up against some stranger did not seem appealing. His agent had offered to come with him to provide some company and cover from any unwanted attention but she would have made him wait an extra day and he was unwilling to do that. He also rejected a first class offer because the quickest airline did not have that option and he wanted to be gone from the current madness.

He glanced over at a magazine left on the seat beside him. He was about to pick it up when he saw a small photo of himself and Ash on the front cover. Clearly they did not qualify for the main article, thank goodness, but there they were taking up column inches none-the-less.

Kurt felt sick to his stomach. He wanted to be out of California right now. Hollywood was such a disappointment. It was all fake people, glitz, glamour and smoke and mirrors. It had been so exciting at first. He and Mark had swanned in ready to take on the World in their 22 year old naïveté. Kurt had landed on his feet quickly, playing a bit part in some now forgotten series that only ran for two seasons. It was eminently forgettable but got him screen time and launched him in to a number of minor film roles, a few commercials and finally his latest gig as Calvin Klein, circa 1965.

Mark on the other hand had quickly vanished in to the ether, swallowed up as most people are, by failed auditions, mean casting feedback, low budget badly written movies and a string of uninspiring waitering jobs to pay the rent. Kurt lost touch with him after the first two years. There were only so many times they could pretend that Kurt's good fortune did not provide an insurmountable obstacle to their dead-in-the-water relationship.

In fact if Kurt was honest, his success had been one of the most isolating features of his life. Due to the realities of short term projects, he had not been involved with any one show or film long enough to build lasting friendships with any of the cast or crew. He had enjoyed a lot of the work that he had done and was very satisfied with the results, but he had not formed any real connections with anyone that had not fizzled out within a few months after the end of filming. While it was true that he is naturally pretty guarded, there was also the homosexuality thing. While there are a lot of gay actors in Hollywood, most of them are not open about their preferences and for many, spending casual time with an openly gay man, in front of possible spying cameras was just too much of a risk.

Instead most of Kurt's relationships and sexual encounters of the last few years had taken the form of one night stands or short lived flings, mostly conducted in glitzy house parties and fuelled by free drugs and copious amounts of liquor. This had been exciting at first but now Kurt felt totally jaded and burnt out about the whole thing. He was done living the fake, superficial high octane life without significant friendships, but to be honest he wasn't sure what the alternative was.

To say that he was not looking forward to returning to Ohio was an understatement. He especially did not want to face his Dad and Carole, given the details of his private life that were now being spouted all over the media. He did not feel overly guilty about the current situation. Ash had been playing both sides of the court for a long time and he was the one who had talked Kurt in to the fateful one night stand that had clearly been filmed. Kurt couldn't even be bothered to get too upset about being filmed without his consent. He was sure it wasn't the first time and if Ash was stupid enough to have not checked the security measures at the hotel or, more likely, had allowed the tape to fall in to the wrong hands, that was so NOT Kurt's problem.

What really pissed Kurt off was the meeting a few days after the whole mess blew up, when the producers of the show basically told him that he could quit or they would terminate his contract. It seemed that they felt that the show would recover far more easily from his disappearance than from losing their star attraction. So much for fair play and artistic integrity, it's not even as though Ash could act. He was just a run of the mill, genetically fortunate, dapper guy with a smile that made people melt and so who cared if he was talentless? Clearly not Hollywood.

And now, clearly not Kurt.

Finally his plane boarded and he pressed himself up against the window staring out as California disappeared beneath him. Ohio and his Dad were four hours away. At least, he would not be heading back to Lima. He definitely could not have coped with that. His agent did not think that the Hollywood press would be that interested once he was out of their immediate locality. Thankfully in the strata of all things Hollywood he was small fry and Ash was really the main piece of the story.

Although try explaining that to Ohio.

When he was little he always thought that being a celebrity would be so much fun as everyone would be interested in you, treat you well, and want to be your friend. The realities of course were totally different. He quickly became sick of interviews where he was asked the same inane questions repeatedly. Also getting photographed with bedhead while on your way to get milk in the morning was seriously overrated.

One of Kurt's most demoralising press moments was an article in a magazine about the best dressed people in Hollywood. They had a picture of him in a fabulous Alexander McQueen outfit on a red carpet and he looked totally hot and then right next to it was a photo of him after a rough night, downing coffee in some backstreet café, looking a total wreck. The article had charmingly even gone as far as to zero in on his blemishes and wrinkles, circling them in red, and then went on to espouse the power of makeup and fashion for turning an ugly wannabe in to a coutured star. Kurt kept the bad photo in a dresser drawer as motivation to never forget his moisturising routine and always to leave home camera ready.

But Ohio never saw that side of things and he really struggled with returning home and being treated on the streets and his local grocery store as though he was someone special. At least Columbus, being a city, was easier to hide in, but still he got stopped more times than he would like and was always asked for his autograph at the worst possible moments. He remembered one time he was stopped while carrying Dana who was crying over a soiled diaper. The woman who stopped him seemed totally oblivious to the distressed child in his arms and looked absolutely offended when he told her that now was not a good moment. She proceeded to scream him down the street as he walked away about how he was no one special and deserved to burn in hell anyway for being a fag. Dana squirmed in his arms, becoming truly scared, and Kurt had to whisper soothing things in her ear while trying hard not to break in to a run for home. Seriously some people were crazy.

At least in his family he was still treated as Kurt. He was still given chores and was expected to wash the dishes. He wondered idly if his father would let him help out in the shop a bit while he was home. He fantasized about getting his perfectly manicured nails totally greased up and ragged on some clunker's battered car engine. It would be his own private "fuck you" to the Hollywood ideals.

After about an hour of musing, Kurt realised that he was just staring out of the window in to darkness. There was too much cloud cover to see the lights of cities as they flew over. Reluctantly he shut the plastic blind and closed his eyes. He hoped Carol was making her trademark meatloaf and mashed potatoes. He was craving some home cooked comfort.

* * *

The first face he saw, coming out of the Port Columbus terminal in to the airport was Finn. He rolled his eyes and smiled as he was swooped up in to a bearhug that felt like his bones were going to crack.

"Seriously, did you not get my text that I would get a cab?"

"Dude, you told me not to let Burt come pick you up," Finn looked down at himself as if to check, "I'm not Burt."

"You are an idiot though," Kurt laughed affectionately, "how did you even know what flight I was on?"

Finn just smiled and stuck his tongue in to his cheek.

Kurt groaned. "I told you to stop flirting with my agent. God, she's not meant to tell anyone anything without my consent. I should seriously fire her."

Finn laughed. "Yeah, right, I don't think you would know what day of the week it was if Sally was not handing you a memo about it."

"Shut up. I'm not that bad."

"Yeah...OK," Finn responded sarcastically.

When they got in to Finn's truck Kurt breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Seriously though, I really appreciate you coming to get me. If I'm honest I'm pretty anxious about being here."

Finn looked over at him. "Don't be. I think Burt's just pleased that you are in one piece and have not gone fullscale drama queen on his ass."

"HA HA."

"And Dana is so excited that her fashion guru is back in town, as is Shannon. Also I should warn you that Jonah will want to show you his perfect spiral. I haven't broken the news to him yet that his uncle is football handicapped and won't be able to appreciate the majesty of his throwing arm."

"HEY! Need I remind you who scored the winning point in that football game in sophomore year? And I am totally capable of making the right appreciative noises when necessary – I am an actor, you know."

"Oh really… I thought you were just out there for the fashion and the men."

"Well mostly, but there may have been some other stuff too." Finn looked over at Kurt and they exchanged a smile.

"It's good to have you back, bro. How long are you staying for?"

"Dunno." Kurt turned away and stared out of the window at the cars slipping past them on I-270. There was a comfortable space of silence for a few minutes while Kurt got lost in his thoughts.

"Hey, you'll never guess who I saw yesterday," Finn quipped.

Kurt glanced over with a trademark arched eyebrow.

"Blaine."

Kurt's heart skipped a beat.

"Blaine?" he tried his best to seem nonchalant but Finn had not missed the swallowed reaction.

"Yup. He came in to the bar asking after you."

"After me? How was he?"

"He looked good. Actually he looked great. Not that I am any judge on men's ratings but I would go as far as to say he looked HOT."

Kurt rolled his eyes at his irritating brother. "So… husband and kids in tow?"

"Nope. Said he was flying solo," Finn was totally enjoying himself now.

"Huh." Kurt decided not to fuel any more of his brother's amusement quota for the day. He would need some time on his own to process this massive thunderbolt from his past. He wasn't sure how he felt about Blaine. Their relationship had been the most important in his life, hands down, but… shit… the end had been shattering. It had taken him years to pick up the pieces and carry on. He wasn't sure how he would feel seeing him again.

He decided he was far too tired to think about any of that now. "So how's Carol?" he asked, changing the subject completely.

"Good. With any luck the meatloaf will be in the oven as we speak."

Kurt smiled to himself. Maybe it was good to be home after all.

* * *

_A/N: I think Kurt and Blaine are meeting in the next chapter. In my head it's going to be an epic trainwreck. I think the rating on this story is about to change to M._

_How do people feel about that?_


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: How good was last night's episode of Glee? AWESOME!_

_Please note the serious change in rating. I am NOT KIDDING! Read at your peril._

* * *

Chapter 7 – Blaine's POV

"What are you looking at?"

Blaine slammed the top of his laptop down and turned an exasperated look to Jack.

"Nothing."

"Oooh! You have an invite to a party. Are you going?"

"Jack, this is none of your business…"

"You are going. Is your boyfriend going to be there?"

"Jack," Blaine said in warning tone.

"Whatever, man, you were the one looking at facebook at work. That's not my fault."

"OK, fair point. Don't you have a history assignment that you need to turn in today?"

Jack rolled his eyes and opened the door out of Blaine's office. "Alright, I'm going… I'll leave you to moon over your boyfriend in peace."

Blaine picked up a pen to chuck at Jack but he shut the door too quickly behind him and Blaine could hear him laughing down the hall.

It had been about a week since their last heavy duty conversation. Jack had taken a few days to relax fully again with Blaine after that, but now he was back to total goofball mode. Blaine was relieved by this and was purposefully keeping things light so that Jack could rebuild his emotional comfort zone.

Blaine turned back to his laptop and pulled up the facebook screen again.

It was a group invite from Finn to the "Because Hollywood SUCKS party", otherwise entitled the "Help Kurt find a New Direction!" Seriously Finn should be banned from naming anything ever again.

Blaine scrolled through the list of invitees and it looked like the old crew with their significant other halves would be turning up in force. David and Wes were even invited which was really sweet. Blaine hadn't known that Kurt still kept in touch with them.

The party was this Saturday night at Finn's bar (in the back by the karaoke machine – it stated specifically). It was clearly going to be a Glee Fest.

He could see from the responses that people were super excited. There was even a suggestion of a car pool from Chicago and another one from Michigan. Blaine wondered facetiously, how many people had kept in touch with Kurt rather than just wanted to come because of the sex tape gossip.

Although if Blaine were being fair, he reminded himself, it's not as though he had spoken to Kurt recently either. He wasn't sure how he felt about any of this. But, realistically, he had spent far too much emotional energy in the last week being hyper aware and looking for Kurt in every shop, café and grocery store. He really didn't want to be blind-sided by him. At least this way he could meet him face on in a friendly setting, although he hadn't been with this group of people for years… that could be awkward.

Blaine mentally kicked himself for being so chicken. "Come on," he said aloud in to his empty office, "this will be fun!"

* * *

The bar was heaving. In the back Blaine could see the stage decked out with a drum kit and some musical instruments. The karaoke machine also looked ready to go. He headed over to the bar to get a drink when he found himself tackled by David and Wes.

"Oh man. I told you he would SO be here," said Wes on one side of him.

"How's it going, buddy? It's been a long time," said David on the other side.

Blaine grabbed both men in a stifling hug and found himself feeling better already.

"Good. Are your other halves here as well?"

"Nah, we packed them off for a spa weekend together. We officially win husbands of the year awards and we get to spend tonight bugging you!"

"I'm thrilled." Blaine deadpanned.

He was about to turn back to the bar to get the guys a drink when he ended up with a handful of blonde. "Hey Kurt's Blaine. How are you?"

"Hi Brittany. Honey I'm not Kurt's Blaine any more. Just Blaine."

Brittany released him looking confused. "Did you lose him? He's just over there." She pointed to the other end of the bar and Blaine felt his insides drop.

There stood Kurt, looking a little shell shocked, staring at him. Blaine felt as if time stood still for a minute. Wow, Kurt looked good. He had seen photos of course, from his cyber stalking, but in person Kurt looked even better. He swallowed quickly and ran a hand nervously through his hair.

"You look smokin' hot too. Have no fear," Blaine turned to glare at Wes who was smirking at him and holding out a drink.

"I guess I should go say hello."

"It would be the polite thing to do."

Blaine made his way over to Kurt totally lost for words. They embraced a little awkwardly in greeting. "Hey, it's been a long time," Blaine almost winced at his opening line.

Kurt smiled. "Yeah it has. You look good though. Thank you so much for coming."

"Of course, I wouldn't have missed it."

He tried to catch Kurt's eyes but Kurt appeared to be avoiding him and had focussed on some other friends across the bar. "I've got to go but let's catch up some time soon." He smiled at Blaine in an empty kind of a way and put his hand on Blaine's shoulder. "It's good to see you again."

And then he was off, sashaying through the bar effortlessly. Blaine felt like the wind had been knocked out of his sails.

He turned around to find a friendly face to talk to and was relieved to see David and Wes waiting for him. He made his way over to mingle and catch up with some of the old crew.

* * *

Inevitably after an hour, when the alcohol had loosened everybody up, the singing started. First up, Finn kicked off the festivities with an ode to his long-lost brother, lost in a "Time Warp". Everyone groaned but joined in the singing and dancing happily.

The stage was then handed over to successive pairs and groups as the night wore on. Blaine sat on the sidelines, nursing his third beer and watching Kurt flit from group to group, applauding the music and generally schmoozing. He was so good at it. It must have been a Hollywood trick. Every person he spoke to lit up as though Kurt made them feel like the most special person in the room.

Blaine tried not to feel hurt that he appeared to be the only person Kurt was ignoring. He found this realisation hard to stomach.

Suddenly Finn appeared and dropped in to the seat next to him.

"Dude you've totally got to sing something. Everybody has to. It's like the rules tonight."

"I'm not in the mood."

Finn gave him a once over. "Look, he's totally aware of you. He just doesn't know what to say. If you get up on stage and sing him something, I know you'll get his attention."

Blaine's pride wanted to scream that he did not want or need that, but by this point the beers were kicking in and Finn's logic was making some sense.

"OK. Have you got this song?" Finn smiled and nodded, pulling him bodily by the hand to the stage and shoving the microphone at him.

Blaine stood on the stage while the machine cued up. He had serious misgivings about this but the crew, seeing who was up next, just started cheering and he saw Kurt turn away from the person he was talking to, to watch the stage.

When the music kicked in Blaine gave it everything he had and sang it straight to Kurt as he used to do when they were at Dalton together. The song was Drops of Jupiter by Train.

.com/watch?v=KRGRf2V9q_E

The crowd went wild and Blaine was pleased to see that for the first time that night he had Kurt's full attention.

As he was cheered off the stage, Kurt bounded up to him.

"That was really sweet and one of my favourite songs. Thank you."

"No problem. I'm glad you liked it. I thought it was kind of perfect actually."

As they stood smiling at each other, Mercedes yelled from behind Kurt, "Duet!" The crowd picked up the mantra "Duet! Duet! Duet!"

Blaine looked kind of shy but Kurt plastered a big smile on his face and took his hand. For the second time that night, Blaine found himself pulled back up on to the stage.

Kurt went over to Finn and whispered something in his ear. Blaine looked at him questioningly but Kurt just smiled and handed him the second microphone.

The intro to Animal by Neon Trees started up and Blaine looked at Kurt in shock. Everybody started bouncing to the choppy tune and Kurt took the lead singing directly at Blaine. There was nothing innocent or awkward in the way that he sang the song, he was almost being overtly aggressive in an admittedly very sexy way.

.com/watch?v=b9a_bZpkFZg

Blaine immediately kicked in to the song, remembering the words and harmonies from many years before as if it was only yesterday. But this was totally different from that time, when Blaine had to carry the song pretty much on his own. Now he was following Kurt's lead and Kurt was mesmerising. He could not keep his eyes off him.

Blaine felt that he was drowning in the song and just let the adrenaline of the crowd wash over him. When they came to the end the whole bar broke out in cheers and cat-calls. He found himself pulled by Kurt in to a rough hug on the stage and as he relaxed in to it, he heard Kurt whisper in his ear. "Let's get out of here and go to yours tonight."

Blaine froze and his brain threw up 110 reasons why that was a really bad idea but his heart had other plans. "OK", he said.

* * *

Twenty minutes later he and Kurt were in a taxi heading to his apartment. This was not what he had been expecting and he felt that he should probably slow things down but Kurt was currently plastered up against him with one hand in Blaine's hair and his lips and teeth dragging down Blaine's neck driving him crazy. Blaine's brain began to panic but his heart told him to stop over-analysing and to go with the flow. This was what he wanted, this was what he had been missing.

When they got in to the apartment, Kurt was still all over him. Blaine was pushed up against the door while Kurt attacked his mouth and neck in sloppy, biting kisses. Blaine felt his mind playing catch up.

"Kurt, I think we should slow down…"

"Stop talking."

Blaine thumped his head back against the door. He had made his token resistance and his body was screaming at him that this felt GREAT and he needed this.

He let go and went with his feelings. He started to return the kisses with equal intensity and reached up to unbutton Kurt's shirt. Kurt's hands were currently making quick work of Blaine's jeans and soon he felt his pants and underwear pushed down. He kicked off his shoes and got rid of his clothes. Kurt did the same and soon they were both naked and all over each other.

Kurt pulled him down on to the sofa in the living room and lay on top of him attacking his mouth. Blaine felt pressed in to the couch and ran his hands up and down Kurt's back. His insides were turning to mush. His hands were re-finding the pressure points on Kurt that made him groan. It was all muscle memory and his body was remembering very quickly.

Kurt began to work his way down Blaine's body, biting at his nipples in exactly the way he liked and licking a tongue trail around the indentations on his abs. Blaine felt shivers running down his spine at the fleeting touches as he ran his hands through Kurt's hair, mussing it up.

Too quickly he gasped a sharp breath in as Kurt licked around the crown of his cock. Kurt's eyes met his at the sound of the gasp and there was an almost feral look in his eyes. Blaine groaned. He felt that he was literally on Kurt's dinner menu. And then his brain short circuited as Kurt took him in to his mouth.

His hips immediately thrust up in to Kurt's mouth before he could stop them and he felt Kurt snap his head back to stop from choking. Kurt pulled away from him for a second and smirked. "Eager" he said and then pushed Blaine's hips back in to the couch.

Blaine groaned. This did not feel right at all, but still it felt really good. He rolled his head back and stretched out his spine enjoying the hot touches as Kurt's hands seemed to be everywhere. And then he felt some fingers rubbing against his asshole and his body automatically clenched down.

"No," he ground out. Kurt looked up at him questioningly and then shrugged and went back to sucking hard on his cock. Blaine had no idea where that reaction had come from but he hated to admit that he felt some relief. He focussed on the attention Kurt was giving him and enjoyed the very talented tongue play as Kurt found that spot under the rim of his cock and pressed his tongue against it.

When Kurt's fingers cupped his balls and pressed in to the space just behind them, Blaine was lost. He shouted a warning to Kurt and then came in to Kurt's mouth. The pleasure coursed through him and white spots appeared in front of his eyes.

He felt Kurt move slowly up his body, kissing as he went until Kurt was fully on top of him again. He opened his mouth and shared wet sloppy kisses with Kurt, tasting himself on Kurt's tongue, as Kurt moved Blaine's hand down to his own package.

"Is this what you want?" Blaine asked.

"Ah…yes… it's fine."

Kurt began thrusting in to Blaine's hand and his cock felt so familiar. Blaine turned them both on to their sides, pressing Kurt in to the back of the sofa to give them both a bit more room.

He studied Kurt's face for a second, trying to find some signs of the sweet, innocent, awkward kid that he had fallen in love with, but instead saw a confident, sure and guarded man looking back at him with hooded eyes. Kurt smiled back at him and continued to thrust in to his hand, his jaw dropping open as the waves of pleasure began to hit.

"Yeah, just like that."

Blaine handled him with the experience of a lover who knew his partner very well. He stroked at the perfect pace, varying his hand pressure instinctively with Kurt's responses. When he ran his nails gently over the vein, Kurt groaned loudly and moved back to kiss him, pushing his tongue deep in to Blaine's mouth. Kurt released the kiss a minute later, leaving then both panting and pulled Blaine's head to his chest roughly as he released his orgasm between their bodies.

After it was over, Kurt held Blaine tightly and Blaine moved his hand up to curl around Kurt's waist. This felt like the first real hug they had shared. Blaine sighed in to the embrace and felt Kurt kissing his hair at the top of his head.

"I love the haircut," Kurt said, "but I kind of miss the mophead too."

Blaine smiled in to Kurt's skin. "Yup. I think I outgrew the surfer dude look. It's kind of hard to pull off effectively in Ohio."

Kurt laughed and then moved to sit up.

Blaine watched in surprise as Kurt moved off the sofa and began picking up his clothes. "Are you leaving?"

Kurt stopped buttoning up his shirt and looked at him. "I think that's best, don't you?"

No, Blaine wanted to scream. Instead he just sat there and nodded dumbly.

"Sure, if you want. You are welcome to stay."

Kurt sat down next to him on the couch but did not look at him.

"I don't think that would be a good idea."

Blaine just stared at his hands, hearing blood rushing through his ears.

He felt Kurt's hand on his knee and looked up at him. Kurt met his eyes with the same guarded look that he had been sporting all night.

"Look, I'm a mess. And you are gorgeous as ever, but you don't need me and my shit right now disrupting your life."

Blaine felt disconcertingly like this was a familiar spiel for Kurt. He didn't for a second think that this was the first time that line had been used to dump an inconvenient trick.

He nodded mutely and then looked up to see Kurt fully dressed and standing by the door.

"Thanks Blaine. It was really lovely to see you again."

The door to his apartment opened and shut soundly.

Blaine felt like he had been punched in the gut.

* * *

_A/N: Train wreck central._

_Thank you to everyone for the lovely reviews and the huge number of people following this. I am a little overwhelmed. I hope this chapter lived up to expectations?_

_Please review – did it work? I'm a bit anxious about it._

_PS I inserted youtube links above but they don't work. Any ideas how to put a link in to FF? I've seen other stories manage it so I must be being a dunce : )_


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N:__ So people have asked that someone would lovingly kick Kurt up the butt for the last chapter. Don't worry guys I know just the man for the job._

_This chapter wrote itself after last night's episode__s! Perfect._

* * *

Chapter 8 – Kurt's POV

Kurt woke up in the morning with a sore head. The light was streaming through his window and he glared at it angrily. Slowly he pulled himself out of bed and went to sit at his dresser to start his moisturizing regime. He looked down at the night creams and realized he had forgotten to do this last night…and then he remembered why.

He felt his stomach flip over and let out an involuntary groan. That was a stupid, major mistake. The party had been going so well and then he let his libido take over his brain, and with Blaine of all people. Like that situation was not messy enough.

He glanced longingly at his bed and wondered if he could just crawl back in to it and make this situation go away. The worst bit was, everyone will have known when they saw them leaving the party together. How ironic that he felt guiltier about this than the whole sex tape scandal in California.

He looked at his phone and saw a text from Mercedes telling him to call her immediately. Well at least some things in this World never changed.

* * *

He clumped down the stairs feeling several degrees less than fabulous and poured himself a big cup of coffee. It was only when he sat at the table that he realized that his father was there waiting for him.

"I wasn't expecting to see you this morning," Burt stated. "Finn texted to say that you had left the party with Blaine and so probably wouldn't be home."

Kurt's mouth dropped open. "He had no right! I am 30 years old. I can do what I want with whomever I want."

Burt took a deep breath. "Kurt, your brother wasn't telling on you, he was being considerate, letting us know so we wouldn't worry. Don't forget that no matter how old you are, while you are under my roof I expect basic courtesy like letting me know when you will be home."

Kurt grumbled under his breath and swallowed a gulp of coffee. He knew his father was right.

"So? How was it?"

"I'm sorry?" Kurt asked in amazement.

"Blaine, how was Blaine?"

"Are you really asking about my sex life, Dad? Because I think this breaches all ethic codes of father-son conversations and I'm getting pretty uncomfortable over here."

"Well let me ask you this? Are you going to see him again?"

Kurt hesitated… and then looked at his father's face and knew that he had screwed up. He had fallen in to some kind of trap. He just didn't quite know what the trap was yet.

"Dad, I don't want to talk about this right now. I have a stinking headache and I feel like I have been hit by a truck."

"Sorry Kurt, I have waited all week for this conversation and we are having it now."

Kurt sighed and put his head in his hands. He had known this was coming since before he stepped on the plane. He could feel the gong of doom thudding somewhere in the background.

"Kurt, you know I don't judge you. And I love you totally and completely, even if I am not happy with all of your choices."

Kurt sat up and leaned back in his chair. He met his father's eyes and tried to drum up the courage to make it through this conversation.

"Look, I've been worried about you for a while. You don't seem happy. You've lost your spark. You've been coming home from California with a chip on your shoulder that's just growing bigger and bigger. You have contempt for everybody around you and that is not my boy. That is not the son that I raised."

Kurt felt a lump in his throat well up. He looked away from his father and down at the table.

"I'm sorry that I am such a disappointment."

"I did not say that. Cut the drama, you know that's not what I am talking about. I am talking about you Kurt. I am talking about the light inside of you that makes you special. It's dimming."

Kurt sniffed a little.

"So let's talk about sex," Kurt's head shot up and he gave his father a wary look. "Not the graphic details," Burt reassured him, "neither of us wants that. Though it seems to me from your phone calls and emails that you have not had a steady boyfriend since Mark. That was seven years ago."

Kurt sighed.

"I am also really concerned by the way you talk about this thing in California. It's like it is no big deal. You say that you did not know you were being filmed? So just how well did you know this guy anyway? Was he a boyfriend or just someone you were messing around with?"

Kurt felt his heart sink. "Just someone I was messing around with. He was a friend, or at least I thought so, but we weren't in a relationship or anything."

"So at least it wasn't a full on affair, 'cause he was married right?" Kurt nodded.

Burt sighed and he went quiet for a minute. Kurt resisted the urge to gnaw at his thumbnail.

"Why aren't you angrier?" Burt asked quietly. Kurt just stared at the table.

"Kurt, you were violated. Someone filmed you at a really vulnerable moment without your knowledge and consent, and then betrayed you. You were publicly humiliated in the media and you have been living a nightmare for the last two weeks. Why aren't you raising hell about this?"

"Dad, you don't understand. It's not like that in Hollywood. These things happen all the time there. Look, it was just a casual one night stand, OK? So yeah, I'm not happy that I was filmed. I'm even more upset that I lost a good job because of it. But sex is just sex. You do what feels good, you play safe and then it's over and everyone moves on."

Burt looked at his son sadly. "Kurt, do you remember the sex talk we had when you were 16? I told you then that sex is always about feelings and if you just focus on the physical then you will hurt your heart and your self esteem. I think that all this "casual sex" as you call it, is eating away at you and you don't even realize what you are doing to yourself. You seem to have forgotten that you matter. Instead you are allowing people to hurt you and you are not even standing up for yourself."

Kurt felt a tear slip down his cheek. His mind flashed to the hurt look on Blaine's face as he walked out of the apartment the night before. He felt sick inside.

"Son, I know you are thirty and you are your own man, but you seem to have forgotten the basics. Sex should be used in a relationship to connect fully with another person. You used to know that. You learnt that with Blaine and he was good to you. I never figured out what went wrong there but hopefully last night you started to figure some of that out."

Kurt was really crying now and he got up from the table to get a tissue. He couldn't remember the last time he had allowed himself to cry. It had been years.

Burt stood up from the table and turned Kurt around in to his arms. He whispered in to his ear, "Please Kurt, let someone in to your heart again. You deserve to be loved and you are so worth it."

Kurt broke down completely at that point and sobbed in to his father's shoulder. All he could see were flashes of Blaine from last night. The moment their eyes met in the bar. The way Blaine looked while he was singing to Kurt about coming back to earth after finding out that heaven is overrated, like he understood what Kurt was going through. He remembered Blaine's surprise and bemusement when Kurt turned up the heat and then suggested they go home together. Then he remembered Blaine's discomfort while they were together and the way Blaine asked him to stay as he got ready to walk out the door.

What had he done to Blaine?

He hugged his father tighter as the tears dried up and he pulled away to give him a watery smile. "Thank you Dad. I think I have some thinking to do on my own."

Burt clapped him on the shoulder and nodded.

"I'll be at work if you need anything."

* * *

The next day and a tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream later, Kurt stared at the number in front of him. He had found it hard to explain to Mercedes why after spending the night with Blaine they had not actually exchanged contact details. Needless to say when the truth came out, Mercedes was totally unimpressed and demanded that Kurt call Blaine immediately to sort the mess out. She said that she would be coming over to his home within an hour to sort it out for him if he did not call her back with details. Eight years of geographical distance, and Kurt had forgotten just how scary an angry Mercedes in the neighbourhood could be.

He drummed his fingers on his desk. He had no idea what he would say if Blaine picked up. He didn't even really know how he felt about Blaine. Sure he was still gorgeous and in many ways, the guy that Kurt had been madly in love with for five years. However there was so much water under the bridge and so many things that had been left unresolved. Kurt genuinely didn't know if they would be able to salvage a friendship, let alone a relationship. He didn't know if he even had the emotional energy to try.

But he did know that last night had been lovely. He had forgotten what it was like to be with someone who knew him so well. His mind turned to mush when he thought about the way that Blaine's hands had moved over his body and the way that he had turned a simple handjob in to a moment of connection. Kurt was concerned that he had run roughshod over Blaine and couldn't help but wonder if he had been too aggressive. Blaine had always taken the lead in their relationship before.

Kurt was feeling very vulnerable. He wondered if his Dad was right and maybe the casual flings had done more damage to his self esteem and confidence than he realized. Certainly the constant rebuffs from people he was interested in had become draining. The fact that many guys wouldn't even go to the cinema, let alone take him on a romantic date, for fear of being seen, had been tough to accept. He knew he had become guarded as a way of coping. He got very good a shutting out other guys before they could hurt him first. Maybe that's what his Dad was talking about.

Slowly he picked up his phone and dialed.

He could feel his heartbeat in time to the phone rings. He started to cross his fingers, praying for voicemail so that he could put off the agony for a few more hours.

"Hello, Blaine speaking."

Kurt swallowed. "Blaine, it's Kurt."

There was a long pause on the other end.

"Look, Kurt, I'm at work. I only picked up my cell because it was a number I did not recognize and I worried it might be urgent. I really can't talk now."

"I understand. I don't really want to talk over the phone anyway. I do want to apologize for the other night. It has been made very clear to me that I was an ass to you and that was unforgiveable."

He heard Blaine sigh on the other end of the phone. "Thank you."

"Can we meet up? You know for coffee... or something. I think we really need to talk."

"Kurt, I don't know…maybe…I'm still reeling a bit from what happened. I think I need some time."

"Please, Blaine. I just want to talk. I feel like we have a lot to say to each other."

"Let me be very clear with you, Kurt. I have no interest in going through a replay of the other night. If I agree to meet with you then it will just be to talk. I am not going to have sex with you again, at least not while things are like this."

"Agreed." Kurt tried to stop the skip of hope in his heart that Blaine had not ruled out sex forever.

"OK. Look I'll think about it. When I am ready I will text you a place and time."

"That's fine. It will be like the old days at the Lima Bean," Kurt quipped.

He hoped he could hear a small smile in Blaine's voice on the other end of the phone. "I guess. Something like that anyway."

"OK so we'll talk soon?"

"Soon."

Blaine hung up and Kurt went back to staring out the window. He wasn't sure if that had gone well or not.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Total shameless fluff with a purpose. This was so much fun to write._

* * *

Chapter 9 - Blaine's POV

"So. I've been thinking…" Blaine turned towards Jack .

"Yes?"

"Well… it's boring in your office every day and I guess not all the guys here are total losers."

"OK...?"

"So… I'm thinking I might go hang out with them on the School Side and do my work there instead."

Blaine tried hard to suppress a smile.

"Hmm..."

"But, I want something in return though."

Of course there was a catch. "Go on…"

"My birthday's coming up on Friday."

"I know."

"As I haven't been out at all really, I have a lot of activity money saved."

"Yes."

"I want to go to the Wicked exhibit at the Science Museum. You know, the one with the original props and costumes."

"Oh yeah – I think I saw that advertised."

"Yes. So… I know that it's tradition here to have a birthday activity with a staff member of my choice… so I was wondering if you would take me?"

Blaine smiled.

"Sure, Jack. That sounds fun."

"Cool. It's not a date or anything, though. Just so we are clear. I mean no offense but you are OLD and way too preppy for your own good. Your look is so Ralph Lauren, 1990s."

"Jack, quit while you are ahead."

"No, man. I don't mean anything, it's just I don't really want to take the other guys to the exhibit. They wouldn't be in to it and they would ruin the whole thing so I figured with the birthday activity it could be just us."

"Jack, it's fine. Sounds great actually."

"Cool. OK. So I guess I'll see you on Saturday?"

"Are you going to school tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Why not? It beats staring at the back of your head for hours on end."

"I'm proud of you, Jack"

"Shut up."

Blaine laughed and opened the door of his office. Together he and Jack headed to the dining hall for lunch.

* * *

On Saturday the two of them walked in to the exhibit. The place was packed but Jack looked like a kid at Christmas. He was so excited that Blaine could almost see him vibrating. Of course Jack was attempting to pull off nonchalant. It was important to be totally cool and disinterested now that he was 17.

Blaine resisted the urge to tease him. It was just so nice seeing Jack genuinely enthusiastic about something and willing to leave the comfort zone of Trevor's House.

Blaine looked around at the other people standing in line and then stopped. Of course, this was going to happen. Why hadn't he mentally prepared for this? Where else would Kurt Hummel be on a Saturday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio?

"Shit."

Jack looked over at him in surprise as Blaine realised he had just sworn out loud.

"What?"

He looked over to where Blaine had been looking.

"What's wrong… woah…is that the Calvin Klein dude? NO WAY!"

"Keep your voice down Jack. Shh!"

But it was too late. Kurt had seen them and waved a hand to Blaine in greeting.

"Dude, do you KNOW him?"

Jack couldn't be anymore excited right now. He was like a puppy dog.

"Come on, we've got to say hello. It would be rude not to."

"No, Jack… no… come back…"

It was a lost cause. Jack had already bounded over to Kurt. Blaine breathed a breath of total frustration and kicked the toe of his boot in to the ground.

"Damn it."

He made his way over to retrieve his lost charge.

"…this is Blaine. He's my Social Worker. You guys seem like you know each other," Jack was talking a thousand words a minute. "This is so cool. I've never met a celebrity before. Do you like Wicked? What are you doing here? Have you seen this show before?"

"Jack, cool it."

Kurt looked at Blaine with an amused and surprised look on his face. They were drawing some crowd attention now but Kurt did not even seem to notice.

"Hi, Blaine."

Blaine felt like his insides were crawling with ants. This was so awkward. Come on he thought. Deep breath. Be cool and charming. It's just Kurt.

"So I see you've met Jack."

"Dude, you do know him! NO WAY! That's so cool. Why didn't you tell me?"

Jack looked at Blaine and then clearly remembered the context of that original conversation and blushed red. His lips slammed shut and Blaine thanked angels on high for small mercies.

"So…" said Blaine struggling for coherent words.

"Yeah…" responded Kurt looking equally out of his depth.

"Hey, you are coming in to the exhibit right? Are you a fan of Wicked? We should totally go around together," Jack chipped in.

Kurt's eyes lit up at the suggestion. Inwardly Blaine groaned. He started to beg to any deity listening that this prolonged awkwardness would not continue for the next couple of hours.

Kurt was clearly waiting for Blaine's response. "Jack, I'm sure Kurt is really busy…"

Kurt broke in, "Sounds great to me," he turned to Jack. "I was going to be geeking out on my own anyway but if I have a fellow Wickodian to fanboy with… that would be fabulous."

Jack's eyes actually sparkled.

"Besides," Kurt carried on, "someone's going to have to help you teach Blaine the finer points of musical theatre. He shows an astonishing lack of appreciation for anything Broadway. I think this is a two man job."

Blaine rolled his eyes but didn't have the heart to break the moment. Also who was he kidding… two hours with Kurt that did not revolve around the angst of their current situation? There was a large part of his soul that was singing.

Jack didn't even wait for Blaine's response. He was already bantering with Kurt about all the hideous songs he had seen on Blaine's Ipod and the two were walking away from him in to the exhibit together leaving him to buy the entrance tickets. Typical.

Kurt threw a glance over his shoulder at Blaine and winked at him. Blaine swallowed the glow in his gut and just shook his head in resignation. This was going to be one heck of an afternoon.

* * *

Three hours and far too many jokes at his expense later, Blaine never wanted to see one more variation of a flying monkey costume in his life.

They were sitting in his car outside a Dairy Queen with Kurt and Jack in the backseat still poring over the exhibit catalogue, hoping to absorb every detail to memory.

"Oh no wait, the original Broadway recording of Defying Gravity was by far the best," Kurt enthused. "Hold on, I've got it on my Ipod here."

Blaine found Kurt's Ipod shoved under his nose without ceremony and slightly grudgingly plugged it in to his car stereo system. The other two didn't even look up to thank him.

As the intro to the song started, he could hear them humming. Then Kurt inevitably broke in to song. Blaine smiled to himself. He had missed that voice so much.

He caught Jack's eye in the rearview mirror and Jack was looking at Kurt in shock. "I didn't know that any other guy could sing like that. I thought it was just me and that I was weird or something."

Kurt stopped singing and turned to him. "Well come on, you try it."

Blaine listened in awe as both men started to sing the chorus. He found himself holding his breath as the song built steadily up the music scale getting higher and higher. He waited for one of the guys voices to crack but neither did. They just kept going, perfectly pitched.

As the song headed for the top F, Blaine turned in his seat and caught Kurt's eye. Kurt was beaming at him in surprise as Jack hit the note and held it seemingly effortlessly. When the song ended, Kurt pulled Jack in to a big hug.

"That was amazing, beyond amazing," he gushed. "When I was about your age I decided that I was going to sing that song to my Glee club. It turned in to a bit of a competition, because I had to prove that a guy could sing the song just as well as a girl. Anyway the point is, I had to practice for days to exercise my voice enough to be able to reach that note as well as you just did. That's quite a gift you've got there."

Jack blushed and looked kind of pleased with himself.

"I haven't sung in public for a little while. It felt good," he answered. "Hey did you know that Blaine used to play the guitar?"

Kurt shot Blaine a questioning look. "Yes, he's really good actually."

"Really? He says he doesn't play anymore."

Blaine groaned inside. He briefly fantasized about throttling Jack and turned away to face forward again so he wouldn't be tempted.

He caught Kurt's eyes in the mirror.

"Wow, that's a shame," is all Kurt replied.

An awkward silence descended on the car and then Kurt began shuffling in the backseat. Blaine turned around to watch him.

"I should go. Thank you both so much for letting me gatecrash your afternoon. I had a brilliant time. It was lovely to meet you, Jack."

"You, too."

"Blaine I really hope to see you again soon." Kurt met Blaine's eyes for an instant with a totally loaded look that clearly conveyed his point. Blaine nodded.

"See you soon Kurt and thanks for today."

Kurt got out of the car and waved goodbye to them. Jack bit his lip and ducked his head further in to the programme. Blaine saw the curve of a smile that he was trying to hide.

"Shut up and come get in the front seat. I refuse to look like I am your chauffeur for the day."

Jack laughed and clambered over the console in to the passenger seat. Blaine waited for the teasing to begin but miraculously Jack didn't say anything else and instead seemed engrossed in his programme.

* * *

Later that night Kurt's phone buzzed.

"Coffee Grind, North and Broadway. 10am tomorrow. Blaine"

Kurt smiled to himself as his heart gave a little leap. It was on.

_A/N: I hope you enjoyed! Please don't forget to review. Reviews make me very happy : )_


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Hello! Sorry for the delay in getting this to you. I was away for a long weekend without internet connection. _

_Also, this chapter kicked my butt. I have re-written five or six times and I'm still not sure I am happy with it. Please let me know what you think._

* * *

Chapter 10 - Kurt's POV

Kurt fussed with his hair one more time in his rear view mirror. His heart was pounding and he could not believe he cared this much about one date. He had lost count of the number of men he had been with. Most of those couplings were lost to the haze of drugs and alcohol, in dark rooms with no distinctive personality. At the time they had felt good but his father had been right, Kurt felt embarrassed and cheapened by them now.

None of the men had mattered to him as much as this one coffee meeting with his old high school sweetheart. Yet, he knew that this may not end the way he desperately wanted it to. That thought alone kept him in the car until he saw Blaine's car pull in to the lot and Blaine head in to the coffee shop. Kurt breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't bear the thought of sitting at a table on his own waiting.

He took his wallet with him. He was toying with the idea of putting a hat on as it would have provided some safety from prying eyes but in the end, he decided to leave it. He did not want to meet Blaine shielded. Fuck the National Inquirer. If they were that interested in his pathetic, disastrous excuse for a love life then they could have at it.

He steeled himself one final time and walked in to the shop with as much false confidence as he could muster. Blaine was waiting for him in the foyer and they exchanged an anxious grin and hug. Kurt found that he could barely meet Blaine's eyes but when their bodies touched he shivered inwardly at the tingle down his spine.

They stood in line to get coffee. Kurt found himself desperately reading the menu board behind the baristas as though he did not know that he was already getting a skinny latte. He took a deep breath and tried to calm the raging nerves shooting through him. He was pleased to see that Blaine looked equally out of sorts, shuffling awkwardly from one foot to the other and avoiding looking at Kurt.

Once they had their coffees and were settled in a back table away from the window, Kurt took a breath and raised his eyes to meet Blaine. He found the familiar pair of hazel eyes looking back at him nervously. God, Blaine was beautiful. If anything he had grown in to his looks, which given that he had been a smoking hot teenager, Kurt found difficult to believe. Kurt resisted his gut reaction to lean over the table and kiss him.

He contemplated making a joke to break the tension but instead Blaine was the first to speak.

"Thank you again for yesterday, Kurt. Jack was blown away by you hanging out with us. You made the day really special."

Kurt smiled. "I loved meeting him too. He's a total livewire. He definitely made things interesting… and his voice! That blew me away. If I was ten years younger I would have turned green with envy."

"Oh I don't know. I think your voice is quite special too. As I recall you have no problems making an impact with it when you choose to," Blaine teased a little.

"I do what I can," Kurt jibed back with his own Cheshire grin. "And yesterday was fabulous. Thanks for letting me tag along. And can I just say, seeing you in professional work mode was fascinating."

"Oh, really?" Blaine raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Oh yes. It was pretty sexy actually."

Blaine smiled shyly in return but then bit his lip and looked away. Kurt kicked himself. Based on what had happened the last time they were alone together this probably bordered on insensitive.

He took a deep breath and resisted the strong urge to carry on talking as if nothing had happened. "I'm sorry Blaine. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable again. And I do want to apologise again for last weekend, face to face. I behaved really badly towards you and I am so sorry."

Kurt wanted to reach his hand out to touch Blaine's but he was too scared that Blaine would pull away from him. He knew that his current fragile, vulnerable state would not cope well with that rejection right now.

Blaine looked back up at him and re-established eye contact. Kurt felt a jolt of emotion run through him. It was an almost irresistible pull that made him yearn deeply that there was not such a huge emotional gulf separating them.

"Thank you, Kurt." Blaine swallowed some coffee and fiddled with his cup. He sighed in resignation, "I have to admit that I am a bit lost for words. I have so much that I want to ask and so much that I want to understand but I don't know where to begin."

"I know the feeling. Look, start with something easy. I promise that I will try to answer as honestly as I can."

Blaine nodded in agreement and then looked up at Kurt through his lashes and gently ran the tip of his tongue over his lower lip in an anxious, contemplative gesture. Kurt found his eyes tracking the path of the tongue.

"How long are you sticking around for?"

Kurt jolted to. "I thought I said easy!" he found himself releasing a nervous laugh. Calming himself, he puffed out a breath and ran his fingers through his fringe. "Uh, I don't know. I mean I'm currently unemployed and truthfully probably unemployable in LA until this scandal runs its course. Honestly, I don't even know if I want to go back to LA anytime soon. I'm currently struggling to plan more than one day ahead right now without my brain exploding, so I will probably hang out at home for the next few weeks until my Dad gets tired of me moping and kicks me out."

Blaine nodded seriously and sipped his coffee. "I would have thought you would want to skip town as soon as possible. I know you always found Ohio really claustrophobic."

"As I recall, there was a time when you did too," Kurt quipped and then regretted his boldness, feeling again that he was stepping too close to hidden landmines. "Um…I don't have anywhere else to go right now and to be honest I am enjoying being with my family and friends. So you aren't getting rid of me that easily," he raised his eyebrow at Blaine pointedly with a small smirk.

Blaine smiled at that a little and the tips of his ears went red. Kurt took that as a positive sign that he had got through to him, even if it was just a start.

"So what was LA like?" Blaine asked changing topic. He put his chin on his hand and gazed at Kurt contemplatively.

Kurt took a second to consider his answer and rubbed his hand over his face. He had been dreading this topic. "Uh…Exciting, terrifying, superficial and… fake. I don't know… when I first got out there and things went so well, I thought that my dreams had come true. It was so exciting. Everyone buzzed around telling me how gorgeous or talented I was. I only understood that it was lies when the first show ended and there was no one beating down the door with new scripts for me. My agent would call people up and it was like Kurt who? And then I was back to the audition circuit with everyone else."

Blaine raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I thought I read somewhere that the director of the first film you were in offered you that part based on how well you had done in the TV series?"

Kurt laughed bitterly. "More like his took a shine to me and thought that an available, appealing body on set would be conducive to his artistic process."

Blaine choked on the sip of coffee and had to take a minute to recover from his coughing fit. "What?"

Kurt sighed. "Yes. It wasn't one of my proudest moments." Kurt looked down at his hands and then up at Blaine, searching his eyes for his long lost confidant and best friend. "Look, I'm totally embarrassed talking to you about this but I think you need to hear it."

Blaine schooled his surprised expression and responded simply. "OK."

Kurt brought his hand to his mouth and began chewing on the skin on top of his thumb. Realising he was about two seconds from biting his thumb nail he quickly put his hand back on the table and started decimating his coffee cup sleeve instead.

"After the first show ended, I was on my own big time. Mark had left LA by that point and although I had some friends from the show I was pretty isolated. I was also only just beginning to realise that being out and gay in Hollywood is a bit like wearing a plague sign. To my face everyone gushed about how much they respected me and how brave they thought I was, but no men would hang out with me, in case the media thought they were gay too. I had some girl friends but I really missed guys in my life and I was tired of being alone.'

'My life went in to freefall pretty quickly after that first series. I did a lot of things that I am not proud of. I am just incredibly grateful that I reacted so badly to alcohol in high school and I had that bad acid trip in college, otherwise I probably would have been sucked deeper in to the whole drugs thing. It was crazy out there – anything you could imagine offered on a big platter.'

Kurt glanced at Blaine. Blaine met his gaze neutrally and Kurt found it was hard to gauge any particular reaction from him at that point.

Kurt took a deep breath and ploughed on. "There were a lot of parties - not the birthday cake and ice cream variety. At this one party in particular, I met Sean, the director of that first film I was in. He sweet talked his way in to spending the night with me in one of the rooms in the house. In the morning he mentioned this film he was working on and how he thought he might have a part for me.'

'I hadn't had a callback from an audition in a long time and I was running out of money. It wasn't like I had sex with him purely for the job or anything," Kurt looked at Blaine slightly pleadingly hoping he would understand. "Sean was nice to me and at the time I thought there was more chemistry than there was. During filming he was clear that we had to keep the sex under wraps. The shoot lasted about four months. I was only technically needed for about two of those as my part was quite minor but he made up reasons for me to stick around and I was happy to do so, especially as it upped my paycheck. Then when filming was over, he sent me the Director's edit and I never heard from him again. It took a while for me to get my head around that but the sad thing is that that was probably my longest Hollywood relationship."

Kurt fixed his eyes on his cup. He couldn't even look at Blaine at the moment.

Blaine cleared his throat and took Kurt's hand. "It's OK, I understand. Thank you for being so honest."

Kurt swallowed and nodded still not achieving eye contact.

Blaine continued to hold his hand for a beat.

"Kurt, what are we doing right now?"

Kurt looked up at Blaine confused. "What do you mean?"

"I guess I'm trying to figure how to react to what you have just told me and the huge amount of stuff that you have implied but have not told me." Kurt moved to interrupt, but Blaine stopped him. "It's OK. We've been away from each other for nine years. Of course stuff has happened in that time. Stuff's happened to me too. I just need to know what you are hoping for. Do you want me to respond to what you are saying as a friend, or do you feel that it is important that I know this because you are hoping that we might get back together?"

Kurt looked away, his face flaming. He didn't want to be the one defining this especially when he could get no reading on Blaine at the moment. He felt so exposed.

"Please, don't put that all on me," his tone came out more agitated than he was expecting. "I feel like you are treating me like one of the kids you work with. What do you think this is?"

Blaine looked a bit taken aback, and then smirked to himself. "Touché! I'm sorry, I guess I am a little overwhelmed and have slipped in to Social Worker mode. I'll stop. I guess I am just still trying to process what we are doing. And honestly, it's easier to get you to tell me what you want than to admit that I am feeling totally lost and vulnerable right now."

Kurt felt some relief that he was not the only one desperately splashing to keep his head above water. He waited for Blaine to think through his answer.

"Kurt, I don't know what to say. A large part of me is so excited you are home. Seeing you with Jack yesterday may have been the most fun that I have had in months and it brought back a lot of great memories. I am totally attracted to you and I can't stop thinking about you. I feel 16 again," Kurt felt relief flood back in to him and he smiled brightly at Blaine.

Blaine gave a small smile back and leaned forward in his seat. "But Kurt, I need to be real with you," he continued. "I was floored by how you treated me last weekend. You have changed, and while I desperately want to tell you that I am OK with that, honestly some of the changes kind of scare me. On Saturday night, you looked at me as though I was a nameless trick and then just walked out. It was one of the most painful things that has happened to me in years. I couldn't cope with that happening again."

Kurt felt his heart breaking a little. He recaptured Blaine's hand and waited 'til Blaine was looking right in to his eyes.

"I can't forgive myself for what I did to you. Blaine, I'm a mess. I haven't had sex with meaning and connection in years and I was scared. You were gorgeous at the party singing to me, and you looked so fucking hot. All I could do to cope with my emotions was to go in to autopilot and try to turn them in to a form that I felt I could handle. I bitterly regret that because that is not at all how I want us to be like," Kurt caught himself, "…if we were to end up together that is."

There was desperation in Blaine's face now. "Kurt, I want us to be able to just rewind the clocks so much. I have been thinking about little else since I heard that you were coming home. But so much has happened, I don't know if we can. The thing that made last Saturday so awful was that I was left reliving all the same emotions as the day you broke up with me all those years ago. I can't go back there. It almost killed me the first time. I absolutely can not let it happen again."

Kurt felt like he had been smacked in the face. "What do you mean, 'when I broke up with you last time'?" he challenged. He pulled his hand away from Blaine. "You can not be serious right now. That is not what happened." His voice began to get steadily higher pitched. "YOU ended the relationship. I'll agree that I was the one who finally moved away, but let's be very clear, you had already decided that we were over months before I finally gave up. Don't you dare pin that on me! It took me years to get over you."

Blaine looked shocked and then there was an angry glint in his eye. "I ended the relationship? What are you talking about? I loved you. Do I need to refresh your memory with the basic facts? You were the one who waltzed off in to the sunset with Mark to make your dreams come true in LA, leaving me behind to pick up the pieces."

Kurt could feel his insides boiling and knew his face had turned red. It was only fear of being overheard that stopped him from standing up and screaming in the café. "How dare you?" he hissed, leaning over the table as far as his torso would reach and making sure he had Blaine's full attention. "You know full well that you pushed me in to Mark's arms. You gave me no choice in the matter. Like you don't know that I would have chosen you in a heartbeat if you had let me. Instead you with your saviour complex had decided that I was better off without you and you did everything but pack my bags to get me to leave. Don't twist what happened after the attack. It took years and some therapy for me to get my head around how you reacted, let alone forgive you for it. I will take a lot of emotional dumping Blaine. I will hold up my hands to being completely in the wrong last weekend and I am deeply sorry for hurting you. But don't ever accuse me of walking away the first time. That was not my fault."

Blaine looked totally taken aback. The colour drained from his face and he looked like he was going to be sick. "Do you really feel that way? I… I never wanted you to leave… but I know that things changed, that I changed. I always assumed that you couldn't stand who I became… you think I pushed you? Oh God… I need some air…"

He pushed his chair back from the table and walked out of the café very quickly leaving Kurt, eyes filling with tears, to stare at an empty seat. Kurt put his head in his hands and let the tears fall silently. He hadn't been this much of an emotional wreck since he arrived in California. God, poor Mark. He put that kid through hell, crying himself to sleep every night over the loss of Blaine. No wonder their relationship never stood a chance. It was dead in the water before they even got on the plane.

Kurt fixated on the jacket cloaking the chair in front of him. He truly did not know if he and Blaine could have a future together. Already they were struggling to get through coffee and they hadn't even scratched the surface of their difficulties. But Kurt could not help the hope he felt in his heart. When he looked in to Blaine's eyes, he vividly remembered the boy who had loved him completely and every now and then, he caught glimpses of that boy shining out of the hurting man. He knew that reforming the connection may be a doomed hope but he also knew that he would have to try. Otherwise he didn't know if he could ever live with himself or move on properly.

After about ten minutes, Kurt turned his head at the footsteps coming behind him. He saw Blaine's tear stained face matching his own. Blaine sat down heavily in the seat opposite and looked lost.

"I don't know where we go from here Kurt," he said sadly. "You need to know that I have never stopped loving you and I don't think I ever will. But there is so much stuff to work through and let's be real, nine years has changed us both. There are parts of you I don't recognise at all. I'm sure you feel the same way. This is just too painful. I mean look at us, we can't even get through coffee without reducing each other to holy messes."

Kurt allowed the tears to slide freshly down his cheeks. "But you do love me."

Blaine looked wrecked. His face was a picture of agony. "I'm sorry Kurt. I can't do this. Inevitably when this goes wrong you will leave again and that will destroy me. This is too much."

He got to his feet and put his jacket on. Kurt looked up at him sadly and Blaine bent down to kiss his cheek softly. He lingered a second too long breathing in Kurt's scent. Kurt felt heat and warmth spreading over his skin at the touch. He knew then with total sureness in his heart that he was not prepared to let Blaine go that easily.

Instead he stood up and mustered as brave a face as he could manage and hugged the man to him. "I love you too."

Blaine released the hug and looked at him mournfully. "Thank you. Goodbye, Kurt. I wish we had met again under different circumstances." He turned away and walked out of the café.

Kurt sat back down and stared at the mess of the decimated coffee cup in front of him. Blaine's parting shot had given him an idea. It was crazy but he wondered if he could make it work.

* * *

_A/N: Please review *waiting anxiously*_


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N Thank you so much for the kind feedback on the last chapter. I am realising that when I have finished this story I may be tempted to go back and rework parts of different chapters for clarity etc. I really appreciated those of you who took the time to let me know which bits were less effective for you. And to everyone who reviewed – thank you!_

_Here's a lighter chapter and a reappearance of some old friends. Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 11

Jack bounded in to Blaine's office.

"Did you set this up?"

"Set what up Jack? I am really not in the mood today."

"Woah, OK… grouchy. You must know what I am talking about? It's all over TH."

"What is?"

Jack slowed down for the first time that day. He sat down on the sofa looking confused. "You mean you really don't know? Kurt Hummel is coming in to teach music for the rest of the semester. He has offered to coach us to put on a musical revue for the trustees to raise more money for Trevor's House. He didn't tell you? I thought for sure that you had set this up."

Blaine just stared at Jack dumbfounded. "Are you kidding right now?" but one look at Jack's face and it was clear that he was serious.

Blaine felt a peculiar mixture of mind numbing anger and total excitement, overlaid with a suggestion of nausea. His stomach was tied in knots.

"I need to go talk to the Director immediately."

Jack's face fell. "I thought you would be pleased. Please don't stop it Blaine. This is the best thing that has happened here in forever. All the kids are talking about it. I've never seen them so excited about something that is not computer game related."

"Jack, I need to find out for myself what is happening. I'm sorry I can't talk right now. I'll see you at our session as normal later, OK?"

Jack nodded warily and dragged his feet to the door. It was clear that he was regretting his decision to tell Blaine but it was way too late. The cat was out of the bag.

* * *

An hour later, after a short meeting with the Director, Blaine was on the phone calling the very number that he had almost deleted back out of his phone book a few days before.

After three rings, Kurt picked up.

"Blaine?" Kurt sounded surprised.

"Kurt, what are you playing at?" Blaine didn't even try to cover the anger in his voice.

"What do you mean?"

"Is it true that you are planning to come to volunteer at MY WORKPLACE?"

"Oh… that."

"What do you mean, 'Oh…that'? How were you not expecting this call?"

"No, I just… hadn't expected the news to get to you so quickly. I was planning on telling you myself. I just didn't quite know what to say."

"Yeah, NO SHIT! That's because this is the most stupid idea you have ever had. Please call the Director and tell him you have changed your mind."

"Um…no. I can't do that. I would be letting down the kids."

"Please. This is not about the kids and we both know it. This is about me."

"Not everything is about you, Blaine."

"Oh, yeah? What else could possibly have inspired you to volunteer with this particular demographic? In THIS VERY children's home?"

Kurt stuttered at the anger in Blaine's voice and started to tap dance quickly. "Actually I was inspired by meeting Jack. He seemed like he needed a Glee Club equivalent in his life desperately."

"So you are going to be the next Will Schuester, huh? Very touching," Blaine quipped sarcastically.

"Look, you don't have to like the idea but you did say that you wished that we had re-met in different circumstances. I am just providing the different circumstances."

"Oh God," Blaine sat down with a thump on the step outside the home and held his head in his hand. "You are serious about this. And what happens when everything in LA blows over and your agent calls with your next big break?"

"I've already told her that I am off the market until February at least."

Blaine swallowed his next rant. He had definitely not been expecting that.

"So you are planning to stay in Columbus for at least five months?" his tone had softened considerably from the higher pitched wail he had been emitting earlier.

"Yes. It looks that way."

"Huh."

"I'm not giving up on us, Blaine."

Blaine felt his face go red and a lump form in his throat. He thought he was going to start sobbing but he clamped down on his emotions hard.

"Kurt, I really think this is a bad idea. I am not sure that things are going to change in the way you want them too. What happens when you realise that we are really over?"

He heard a sharp breath on the other end of the phone. "I don't know," Kurt sounded much less chipper than he had a few moments ago. "I haven't really thought about that. But Blaine, I have committed to staying at the Home until February to put on the show. If things aren't working out then when that ends, I will leave."

Blaine sighed. "I'm still kind of mad that you didn't even ask me before you did this."

"You would have stopped me."

"True… Kurt, I hope you know what you are doing. These kids are not like McKinley or Dalton. They are here for a reason, usually because they can not manage to live anywhere else. Their behaviour can be really challenging. In short they could eat you alive."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. You know I don't have a clue what I have signed up to, but I knew I had to try something to give us a chance."

Blaine nodded resignedly, even though the gesture was useless over the phone.

"Just promise me one thing," he asked Kurt. "Promise me that you won't let the kids down. You should see how excited they are right now. Please."

Kurt seemed to breathe a bit more easily. "I promise not to let either the kids or you down."

Blaine smiled for the first time since hearing the news. "Thank you." There was a long pregnant pause. "I have to go back to work now."

"OK. I'll see you Monday, Blaine."

"Yeah."

Blaine hung up the phone feeling rung out. This was completely overwhelming and he hated the feeling that things were moving fast out of his control. He leaned his head back against the bricks on the Home and closed his eyes against the sun. He sure hoped that Kurt had thought this through better than it appeared.

He decided he needed some emergency advice and a different perspective. He pulled out his phone again and texted the two people he knew would tell him exactly how it was.

* * *

"So let me get this straight." Wes put down the beer bottle and grabbed a handful of popcorn. "You left the party together and went back to your place. You did things together that David and I really don't want to know about and then he left you high and dry and was generally a total ass. Two days later he has a change of heart and comes crawling back. Following a weird pseudo-date, chaperoned by a 17 year old, you meet for coffee and make each other cry like little girls. Then you decide that you can't take it any more and call quits to possibly the greatest love story never told. But he ignores you and behind your back decides to spend quality time with you in that off-the-wall place you work in, and you are deciding whether to kill him or kiss him for it?" he paused for dramatic effect. "How did I do?"

David looked totally befuddled on the other side of the table. "Well, I'll say one thing about gay relationships, they certainly are more exciting than my boring, settled, married life. Maybe we should have experimented more Wes, we are clearly missing out!"

Blaine groaned and slammed his head on to the bar table. "Not helping guys. You are meant to be coming up with sound advice and telling me to what to do."

"Not a chance," said Wes. "Telling you what to do in your love life leads to total disaster. Have you forgotten what happened with Eric or Ethan or whatever his name was? I had to throw out that shirt after you threw your Bloody Mary on it when you didn't appreciate my last bit of helpful advice."

"You told me to screw his brother."

"Yeah, well, he was definitely hotter… and way less crazy."

Blaine gave Wes an evil glare and Wes immediately grabbed his beer glass, nursing it to his chest defensively.

"So, I have a question," David bravely soldiered on, ignoring the shenanigans in front of him. "Does Kurt have a point about you pushing him away in college? I got to tell you, man, if we have been dealing with you moping and looking lovelorn for nine years because you messed up, I'm going to be pretty pissed."

Blaine let out an agonised groan. "I don't know… I don't think so. I mean things got so screwed up and I know I saw things in a weird way for a while, but I definitely did not want Kurt to leave. But who knows?… I guess I was really anxious about him staying too."

"So remind me, what did happen?"

Blaine thought for a minute. He and Kurt had never told anyone the real story and somehow, now that Kurt had made him question everything anyway, he didn't feel that it was his story to tell. He just settled for the agreed abbreviated version.

"You remember me telling you about the crazy student politics in Junior Year? Well it just continued on and got a bit more intense in Senior Year once we were actually elected. Then Kurt met Mark through the play they were doing and he just started spending more time with him."

Wes seemed to contemplate him seriously for a minute. "You didn't do your self-sacrificing thing did you?" Blaine felt the colour drain out of his face. "You know, that thing you do when you decide that you know what's best for someone else and then you do it no matter what the cost is to you and regardless of their opinion?"

"I don't do that."

Both Wes and David laughed out loud. "Yeah, you do." This was the problem with seeking advice from the two people who knew him best in the World.

Wes continued. "Remember the time in Sophomore Year when I smuggled in a bottle of vodka to the dorms? We all got trashed and decided to play softball in the common room. David hit that ball straight up and it totally brought down the chandelier. You told Mr Perkins that you had snuck in the alcohol and as a result got banned from Sectionals."

"You would have been suspended," Blaine argued, "You already had the strike against you from sneaking Jess in on campus that month before."

Wes put both hands up in acknowledgment. "Dude, I'm totally grateful. I am not saying that. But the point is, that was my deal for having been an idiot, my choice, my consequence and you took the heat because you did not want me to suffer. I swear that cost you the end of year Student Achievement Award and put a massive black mark against your otherwise perfect record. It was so totally not your issue but you covered for me anyway because you decided that it was the best option."

Blaine rubbed a hand through his hair in frustration. "And then there was the time…" David started up.

"It's OK," Blaine interrupted. "I've got the point."

"You know… about Kurt," Wesley turned his beer glass in his hand and then smiled up at Blaine mischievously, "this is a bit like those Disney movies you made us sit through in the dorm."

Both Blaine and David looked at him as if he had lost it.

"No, I mean it... just stay with me for a second. In those movies, the good guy always fuck's up big style within the first half hour so you think he's a total ass, but then he transforms in to Prince Charming and marries the Princess."

"Hold on," Blaine said, waving his hand animatedly. "First, did you really just compare my current nightmare situation to a Disney movie? And second, did you just cast me in the role as the princess?"

"Hey, if the shoe fits…David and I just spent the last hour listening to you angst about the hidden motives of your would-be suitor. I don't see anyone else asking to be cast for the diva role."

"Fuck you."

David immediately grabbed all three beer glasses off the table and out of Blaine's way. "And fuck you too," Blaine shot at him, only half joking.

"Look, seriously, Blaine," David responded, "here's how I see your situation. You told Kurt that you were not willing to consider a relationship, because you are a wuss." Blaine glared at him and David quickly moved the glasses to another table.

"Not without reason," David hastened to add. "However, Kurt won't take no for an answer and has made the choice to turn down fame and fortune for a few months to teach a pack of hyenas how to sing, in an attempt to get your attention. You have no risk here. He is putting his heart, job and dignity on the line for you and short of you going all pre-teen schoolgirl on him at work, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't let this play out."

"David, you are a genius," Wes piped up. "Think about it, Blaine, it's perfect. The kids can be like the test, the Disney dragon so to speak. If Kurt is able to slay the dragon, or tame the wild beasts if you prefer, (I know how sensitive you are about those cretins you work with) then maybe he can win your heart after all."

"You are an idiot Wesley," Blaine deadpanned, "I don't know how Jess puts up with you."

"She thinks I'm special," Wes said with not nearly enough irony.

Both Blaine and David laughed.

"OK, so you both think I should just go with the flow of this absolutely insane idea?"

"Without a doubt." They both nodded.

"Do you think we stand any chance at all of this working?"

David hesitated but Wesley just rolled his eyes and jumped in, "Blaine Anderson, where has your absolutely hopeless romantic side vanished to? Where is the boy who made me watch both Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin twice through after Jess dumped me for that horrifying week in senior year? Obviously the fact that we are celebrating our five year anniversary next week is testament to the power of insanity mashed with Disney. That used to be your speciality."

Blaine sighed deeply. "OK… going with the flow…"

"Oh, good, can we finally move on to something else?" Wes asked looking relieved. He physically turned away from Blaine and zeroed in on David. "So, a little bird told me, David, that you lost a bet and that Karen waxed you chest hair. I want to see both the video evidence and the waxed chest please."

David turned bright read and ducked his head in to his hands in mock despair.

Blaine raised his eyes heavenward and went to get the next round of beer. It was clearly going to be a long night but he was feeling a lot better.

* * *

_A/N: I hope you enjoyed David and Wes. I know they are fanfic icons at this point. It was fun to play with them a little._

_Please review. : )_


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: So we are finally getting to the part of the story that originally inspired me to write this fic._

_At this point, I want you to know that I have considerable experience working with this population of kids and Trevor's House is based on a very quirky, liberal home I worked at in the States for about three years. Of course there is a little artistic license but I am planning on writing from my own experiences. Hopefully that means that this will read quite realistically - fingers crossed!_

_And yes I will be describing Trevor's House in much clearer detail than the thumbnail sketch so far laid out._

_I am kind of excited about this. I hope you enjoy. _

* * *

Chapter 12

Kurt turned up outside Trevor's House feeling particularly nervous. Over the weekend he had been having massive angst and second thoughts about this decision, but then he would picture Blaine and he would toughen up. This would be fine, he told himself. He was a genuine celebrity for goodness sake, that should at least give him some automatic kudos with the kids.

The building to Trevor's House was nothing like what he expected. It was clearly an old converted church with a hall attached. It was set away from the main street and was mostly unmarked unless you knew what you were looking for. There was a weathered old sign with TH intertwined around each other in a gothic style. The brass could use a polish, Kurt thought.

As he was about to ring the buzzer, the door swung open and two teenage girls in full drama mode came rushing out. He could not make head or tail of what they were shouting about, something to do with an outing later that might be cancelled due to an area check. They slowed when they saw him and then took one look at each other and walked away quickly giggling.

Kurt looked down at his pink Prada pea coat and heeled tartan boots. He had dressed to impress and knew he looked fabulous. Suddenly, though he wondered if he had over done the dramatic flare. He had not had anxiety like this since his first day at Dalton when he realized too late that accessorizing of the uniform was frowned on. That day he felt that everyone was staring at him and not in a good way.

It was too late now. He rang the bell and was buzzed in. A jovial man in his late 40s came out of the side office. "Mr. Hummel?" he asked. "I am Peter Selby, Director of Trevor's House. Please do come in to my office, it is lovely to meet you."

Kurt was ushered in to a large office off the front hallway with comfortable seats and a big desk. He sat down rather awkwardly and looked around the room. It was a bizarre mish mash of administrative necessities such as files and notice boards as well as old antique pieces of furniture that he was surprised to see in an office.

Peter Selby sat behind his desk and politely gave him a minute to get his bearings. "It is very kind of you to volunteer you time for us like this. I understand through the grapevine that you are a friend of Blaine's. Is that how you found out about us?"

Kurt felt his face flush a little as he wondered just how impressive the grapevine actually was. Mr. Selby seemed completely at ease however, and so Kurt hoped that the origins of his sudden civic minded actions were not public knowledge. "I'm pleased to be here. I am currently in between projects and Blaine told me that you were short a music teacher, I thought I could use the break from LA and hoped I could be useful," he smiled charmingly at Mr. Selby hoping that Blaine would back him in his small white lie if the issue arose.

"That's great. My plan is to take you to the School Side and hand you over to the capable care of Ms. Peters, the Art Director but before I do that I figured you might want a brief orientation to the home and what we do?"

It suddenly occurred to Kurt that he actually knew very little about the place, which did nothing to calm his nerves. "That would be really helpful. I know you are a home for teenagers in trouble."

"Yes. That's one way of putting it. I guess we are kind of a loose version of a boarding school in some ways. We have up to 30 high school age children, 15 boys and 15 girls. The main focus of what we do is that we take in youths from the wider Columbus area who have nowhere else to go and we hopefully provide them with nurturing, counseling and care to help them through high school and get them back on their feet.

'About two thirds of our children have at some point been runaways, the others were deemed to be at serious risk of homelessness, usually because their families have stated that they are not able to manage their behaviors any more. To be clear, we don't have any very aggressive students in our care as it would not be practical with the vulnerability of the community as a whole. However as I am sure you are aware, a lot of our kids do have anger issues, they are quick to speak their mind and don't take direction easily."

Kurt gulped a bit and nodded. Blaine had sort of warned him about this but the bold statement was a bit shocking. "There is a ratio of about four students to each staff member. Some of our able and more settled kids attend the local high school or junior college. They use us as a base, rather like teenagers would use a family home. They have responsibilities and chores. Our counseling staff team liaises with the school closely to ensure that they are managing and each child sees one of our Social Workers regularly for therapeutic work.'

'As you know, Blaine is the lead Social Worker for the boys' floor and pretty much oversees the emotional wellbeing of each of the boys who live there. Tanya is our equivalent on the girls' floor. The kids that can't manage the local high school also get taught on the School Side. We have four high school teachers who work with the kids individually to help them achieve their academic goals."

"So do the kids have much contact with their families?" Kurt asked.

"That varies on a case by case basis. Due to the age of the children we are usually led by what they want, unless there are serious concerns raised by other community professionals who know the family. The reality is that for the most part these children are here because their families for a variety of different reasons could not cope with them at home. For some, those reasons are resolvable and so the Social Workers will work with the child and the family to see about getting them home. For others, the child has cut the ties often for emotional self-preservation and so while we would support the child to re-establish communication if they want to, we don't force the issue. Above all else Mr. Hummel, this must be a safe place both emotionally and physically for the child. That has to be our primary goal.'

'Do you have any other questions at this time?" Kurt thought he probably had about 200 but he decided to save them for later, or hopefully for Blaine.

"OK. I'll take you over to the School Side now. You will be given a walkie to carry with you. I ask that you have it with you and switched on at all times as it is the quickest way of requesting assistance if you need anything." Kurt must have looked shocked by this as Mr. Selby continued quickly.

"It's a precaution mainly, Mr. Hummel, but you do need to understand that these children have been through a lot and sometimes tempers can flare quickly, or something unexpected will trigger a flight reaction from them. You do not want to be in a situation where you are alone in a group of kids and an incident occurs that you feel is not in your control."

Kurt nodded mutely and his heart started pounding. His hands were sweating a little when he took the walkie that was offered to him. He was beginning to have serious doubts about what he was getting himself in to.

Mr. Selby led him through a warren of brightly colored corridors, passed a lot of closed doors. Finally Kurt arrived in a large airy room with paintings, hanging crafts and piles of art materials everywhere. He was pleasantly surprised by how normal it all felt.

"This is Ms. Peters. She will be your go-to person for any help that you might need. It was a pleasure meeting you Mr. Hummel. Do let me know if there is anything I can do for you in the future." Mr. Selby clapped Kurt on the shoulder and rather pompously walked out, 100% the man in charge.

Kurt felt himself breathe a sigh of relief. Ms Peters laughed at the look on his face. "Please do call me Sarah. Would you like some coffee? I assume he gave you orientation? He can be a bit full on sometimes but his heart is definitely in the right place."

Sarah Peters was a small woman with bright curly, red hair and a fair complexion. She looked to be in her late thirties and was everything a good art teacher should be, exuding creativity with a wide grin and chaotic dress sense. Kurt found himself warming to her instantly.

He breathed a thank you as she thrust a warm mug in to his hands and pulled up a seat next to him. "I have about twenty minutes before I get kids coming in for the afterschool programming. It's lovely to meet you. Do you mind if I call you Kurt? We are pretty informal around here, except for the Director." She grinned at him and Kurt smiled back.

"So you are here to do a Glee Club style something? Tell me what you are thinking about."

Kurt was embarrassed to admit he really had not given this part of the plan a huge amount of thought. He had kind of just assumed that he would sit in a room with the kids and help them come up with songs to sing for the concert. But he didn't think that admitting he was that unprepared would go down very well, no matter how relaxed Sarah appeared.

"Um… well so the objective is a musical revue of some kind in February for the trustees meeting. I guess I just thought I would help the kids brainstorm some numbers and then we could practice them and see what works best?"

"Hmm…" Sarah looked a little sceptical but remained upbeat. "OK, so I guess the first question is how many kids are you hoping will participate?"

"How many would want to?"

"I'll be honest, I don't really know. Normally I would say that you might have a core of five or six really keen kids and you might be able to get a few more to come along to half the rehearsals. But, you might be different. The kids are really excited that you are coming. It wouldn't surprise me if all of them came to the first class but I would warn you that you might have quite a high drop out rate once the novelty wears off."

"Thanks," said Kurt, not sure how he should take that comment.

"No, sorry. I can be a bit overly blunt sometimes. I am working on it. I'm sure you will do brilliantly. It's just this group aren't known for being overly musical. There are one or two exceptions to that but they are not kids who generally like to draw attention to themselves and I don't think you will find it easy convincing them to perform in front of others. You should be prepared that this may be quite an undertaking."

If Kurt had not been nervous yet, he certainly was now.

"OK, what do you suggest?"

"Um… some of the more confident and mellow kids are in the community high school. I think if we schedule your class so that it can be both an afterschool option and a credit option for kids who want it to be, then I think you will have the best chance of a getting a decent mix."

"OK. So if I'm here every weekday from what 3pm to 5pm will that work?"

"Yeah, if you are willing to give that amount of time… I don't think the class will last two hours but that then gives you the option of working one on one with some kids if you want to and gives some flexibility. That could be very cool."

Sarah seemed to be musing to herself for a minute. "I suggest we get you set up in the English classroom. It's a fabulous old room with high ceilings and an old tiled floor from when this part of the building used to be the church pastor's home. I think the acoustics will be best in there. Also it's kind of in the centre of the school so if you need any help there will be lots of people available to you quickly."

"There's a lot of focus on safety here," Kurt commented.

"Yes, of course. Look I'd love to tell you that we never have any incidents but thirty teens with the challenges we deal with, of course there are difficulties. You need to be aware of that. Some of the teens self harm for example, so I count in and out all of my exacto knives and scissors. If someone is having a really hard time then I will ban them from the art room for a few days until the Social Workers clear them to return. We can't mess around here, the stakes are too high."

"OK. So keep the walkie on me at all times."

"That's the lesson," Sarah smiled. "Look the kids are great once you get to know them. They just will give you a bit of a run for your money at first while they test you out. I will ask some counselors to sit in with you to help with crowd control and keep your walkie on, you'll be fine."

Kurt had never wanted Blaine more in his life than in that moment. He contemplated asking if he could stop in to say hi to him but then Sarah was up and bustling as the first kids peered their heads around the door of the art room.

"Hey guys," said Sarah acknowledging the boys that were staring at Kurt. "Come on, Kurt let's get you set up upstairs and you can meet the kids."

Kurt felt like the walls were going to cave in on him but he smiled sweetly attempting to pull of an air of nonchalance to the staring teenagers and followed her up the stairs to the newly assigned choir room.

* * *

It would be fair to say that Kurt's first week at Trevor's House with the kids was a complete, unmitigated disaster.

As Sarah had predicted, the choir room was bursting on the first day with kids wanting to meet the celebrity. At first they were polite and interested, taking seats on the chairs and desks in the room and listening to him when he spoke. He tried to ask for volunteers to sing or suggest songs but these requests were just met with shy giggles and the kids were far more interested in having him answer question after question about being an actor and Hollywood.

Over the next few days he tried bringing in CDs to provide some inspiration but that sparked arguments in the group as to who got listen to what when. Universally his song choices were ridiculed and when he encouraged the students to suggest their own options, if someone was brave enough to suggest a song, the others would tear down the suggestion as "lame".

The atmosphere in the room at times was so strained that even Kurt, with his long standing experience of group performance, found that he was hit with stage fright when he attempted to sing for the group. The kids were uninterested and responded mostly by talking through the song, or sometimes throwing written notes around and insulting each other. The counselors would try to clamp down on the chaos but it was clear that unless Kurt found the bravery to lead from the front then this whole idea was going to end very badly.

Gradually day by day the attendance of the class dropped until by day four Kurt was down to about ten kids, six girls and four guys who seemed to have some interest in hanging out with a celebrity even if there was nothing else holding their attention.

The desperation of the situation, led Kurt to make his first major mistake. On day five of this increasing torture, Kurt had barely slept. He knew he had to get control of the group but he wasn't sure how to do it. He had discussed strategies with Carol at home that morning, but she had strongly suggested that he talk to Blaine. However, Kurt's pride would not let him. He might not have minded a casual chat with Blaine but timing wise Blaine was always in session with his boys during the classes so Kurt hadn't even bumped in to him in the school once yet. Kurt refused to actually go find him and ask for help.

Instead Kurt thought he would turn to the only other really friendly face in the crowd… Jack. Jack had been attending the group each day and sitting at the back. He hadn't say a word through any of the classes and avoided Kurt's eye contact when Kurt asked for volunteers but in general he had always smiled happily at him and had stayed behind for a few minutes after each class to chat.

Looking back on this Kurt realized that Jack's reluctance to volunteer should have been his first clue that singling Jack out and asking him to sing for the group was going to end very badly. Sadly Kurt was not thinking straight at this point and on this day he not only asked Jack to come forward by name, he then attempted to persuade him forward when Jack did not respond. Knowing that Jack used to street perform regularly, it didn't actually occur to Kurt that he might struggle to sing in front of his peers.

The standoff that was created ratcheted up the tension in the room from the usual casual chaos that surrounded the class. Sensing Jack's reluctance one of the other boys, Michael, decided to step in to defend him.

"Hey lay off, "Michael said to Kurt heatedly. "He doesn't have to do this you know. Just because you are both gay doesn't mean that he has to do what you want."

Kurt was first shocked at the statement and then horrified when he saw that Jack had gone a deep red and was just staring at the floor.

Kurt turned his attention to the kid who had shouted out. "Why on earth would you suggest that I am asking him to do anything because he is gay? That has nothing to do with anything. I happen to know Jack has a great voice and I thought it would be nice to share..."

Kurt was cut off halfway through his rant by the slam of the door to the classroom. He looked up in shock at the counselor by the door who confirmed with a nod that Jack had just exited the class at full pelt. The counselor told Kurt that he would go after Jack, which left Kurt and one other counselor with nine teens.

Kurt struggled to turn his attention back to the class. "Um.." he scrambled, just in time to see Michael get to his feet and stride towards him in the front. The other counselor got to her feet and directed Michael to sit down. Michael ignored her.

"Look, Kurt 'I'm a superstar' Hummel" he said, now standing face to face with Kurt, disdain all over his face,"we all know why you are here. We have all read about the sex tape online. Most us have even seen it. Did you know there is now a copy on YouTube? Let me tell you, dude, you were nothing special." Kurt felt his face flame a deep burgundy. "Just because you think you are this famous star, does not mean that you can waltz in here in your faggy clothes and bully one of us in to doing something we don't want to do. Why don't you skip on back out to Hollywood, or find another group of losers to clear your conscience with for a few months and leave us alone?"

By this point the counselor was actively attempting to intervene. "Michael, enough. Go sit down," she said. Michael looked at her and then back at Kurt one more time. He didn't return to his chair. Instead he casually left the room walking in easy strides calling to the other kids to teach the "bully fag" a lesson. The other kids didn't seem to know what to do but one by one they all stood up and when it was clear that Kurt was not going to stop them, they collected their things and left too.

The counselor looked at him sympathetically. "I'm so sorry," she said. "They get pretty defensive of their own. That was totally out of line though. I will talk to Michael and get him to apologize. I'll mention it to Blaine too. He will probably want Michael to make amends in some way for losing his cool like that and the offensive language."

Kurt just looked at her in shock and nodded numbly. He watched her walk out of the room after her stray kids, leaving him alone with his thoughts. In five days he had cleared his class out, upset one kid to the point of causing him to flee the room, angered another enough that he would be punished and Blaine was going to hear all about it and probably have to sort out the mess.

Kurt wasn't sure that he had ever felt more like a failure in his life. He picked up his things from the classroom and left the building quickly without saying goodbye to anyone. He had no idea if he could face coming back.

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_A/N: Please review : )_


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: __Buckle up folks – the rollercoaster is well and truly taking off now._

_And thank you for all the lovely reviews. I'm glad people are enjoying this madness. I am having so much fun with this. _

_Thanks especially to liesltheweasl, Demia and bagofpopcorn who very sweetly review most if not every chapter! I really look forward to seeing you guys' comments every time as I know that way if I am keeping on track. Much love._

* * *

Chapter 13

"YOU HAVE TO GET RID OF HIM. HE'S A NIGHTMARE!"

Blaine turned away from Dwayne's door, where he and Dwayne had been discussing a recent family visit. He saw Jack coming towards him, breathing hard, looking absolutely wrecked.

"Who are you talking about? What's going on?"

Jack just stood in the middle of the boys' floor corridor looking lost. "I'm talking about that asshole fag that you call a friend. You have to tell him to stop coming here."

Blaine's heart sank. Kurt.

"Jack, we can go to my office to talk about this but I need to ask you to keep a check on your language."

"FUCK YOU. Of course you would take his side. Staff always stick together."

"OK… Dwayne, I'll see you on Monday," Dwayne nodded at Blaine, eyes rounded, he had never heard Jack go off like this and he was unsure what was about to happen.

"Jack, let's go up to my office now."

"Only if you promise to hear me out and not just take Kurt's side."

"I promise, but you need to calm down. Let's go."

Jack led the way to Blaine's office. His whole back looked tense and Blaine could see the veins on his arms from where he was holding himself together so tightly.

Once Blaine opened his door, Jack refused to sit down but instead just started pacing. Blaine decided to give him as much space as possible and went to sit on the floor by the window. He wondered if he had made an error choosing such a small room when Jack was currently reacting like a caged animal.

He waited Jack out in silence.

"That fucking bastard," Blaine gave no reaction. "He called me gay in front of everyone. Now they are all going to think that I am like him. Do you know he wears bright pink shoes with heels? Who does that? He looks so queer and now everyone is going to associate me with him."

Blaine drew a deep breath choosing to deal with the rant later. "Can you walk me through what happened?"

Jack shot him an aggravated look. "We were in the English classroom as usual and the lesson wasn't going anywhere just like always. People were just kind of chatting and Kurt decides again to ask for volunteers. I don't understand why he keeps doing that. It clearly isn't going to work.

'Anyway everyone ignores him and then he looks at me. I shake my head but he asks me in front of everyone and kind of won't take no for an answer. I get super uncomfortable and then Mike sees that and jumps to my defense. Only Mike accuses Kurt of asking me as one gay guy to another." Jack looked up at Blaine with desperate eyes. "Is it that obvious that I'm gay?"

Blaine shook his head no but did not interrupt.

"So anyway, I don't know what to say at that and then fucking Kurt says that he didn't ask me because I'm gay, he asked me because I have a nice voice or some shit… I don't know. I didn't stay any longer. How dare he out me to the entire group? The whole school will know soon," Jack looked defeated and then he tensed up. "Wait!" He turned to Blaine in a very challenging way. "How did he know? Did you tell him?"

Blaine took a breath and thanked the stars in heaven that Kurt and he had been so wrapped up in their own angst, that they had never talked about Jack at all. Of course it would have been unethical anyway but given the amount of contact that Kurt had had with Jack, Blaine was just relieved that he had not slipped up.

"No. I have never talked about you to Kurt."

Jack looked at him warily. "Are you fucking him?"

Blaine was taken aback by the bluntness of the question. "Jack, that is none of your business."

"If you are, you need to know your boyfriend is a jackass."

Blaine let the comment wash over him and kept his voice as calm and steady as possible. "Jack, I know you are angry with Kurt right now. You've made that really clear. But I'm far more concerned at the moment about how scared you seem that other kids at the school might think you are gay."

The color washed out of Jack's face and he slumped down on to the sofa. He began chewing on his bottom lip and avoided Blaine's eyes.

"Is there something that I am doing that is wrong… I mean that's obvious?" he corrected himself.

Blaine's heart cracked for him. "No buddy. I honestly don't know where Mike got that impression and I am pretty sure, from what you have told me that Kurt was just repeating what Mike said. But Jack, why is it so important to you that people shouldn't know?"

"When other kids knew at my old school it destroyed my life."

"Will you tell me about that?"

Jack looked at Blaine tentatively. He seemed very reluctant to continue but after a moment he nodded. Blaine sat very still and fixed his gaze on the floor so that Jack would not have to deal with feeling that he was being stared at.

Jack took a moment to collect himself and started to pick at the fabric on the arm of the sofa.

"It started at the end of my freshman year. I guess that I was a pretty popular kid. I had lots of friends in the theatre department and I had been given quite a large role in the end of year play. I was playing a younger brother to one of the juniors, Trent, and he was hot. He was my first real crush, I guess, and for about two weeks he met me for lunch to rehearse our lines. I would get so excited about that time with him and I guess I was a bit obvious.

'After we had performed the play, one of the graduating seniors had a cast party. Trent asked if I wanted to go. There were no other freshmen going and I felt really special and singled out," Jack seemed to shrink in on himself as he talked. Blaine found himself holding his breath.

"There was alcohol at the party but I didn't have any. To be honest I was a bit freaked out. I had never seen so many couples making out in one place before and I didn't know how to act or who to talk to. Trent mostly went to talk to his friends but then this guy Tom came over and started talking to me. He handed me an orange juice and I guess it was spiked with vodka or something. Anyway, I didn't get like crazy drunk or anything but enough that I was not thinking very clearly.

'Somebody suggested that we play spin the bottle. Tom encouraged me to join in. I don't know if they rigged it or whatever but my spin, the bottle landed on Trent. I can totally remember I was so nervous but Trent was sweet and I guess I got a bit carried away. I don't know exactly what I did wrong but people seemed to find it pretty funny. I guess maybe I was too enthusiastic or something? I must have moaned or whatever. Anyway I remember everybody around the circle teasing Trent afterwards and clapping me on the shoulder, making a big deal of it.

'I didn't find out until the next day that the kiss had been videoed. Someone put it up on YouTube and wrote a nasty poem to go with it. I don't know what they did exactly but they looped the kiss to last for like two minutes and it had background music – Celine Dion or some shit. The video made me look like I had pounced on Trent and that I was the one pushing the kiss.

'People started calling me a whore and a fag at school. Trent was on the J.V. soccer team and some of the guys from the team I think were teasing him about being gay and going after chicken. Anyway he denied that he was gay and made it sound like he was just playing the game and that I was the one who had turned the kiss in to something else.

'I don't know if people believed it but a group of soccer players began to make it their mission to make me miserable. They would wait for me to get off the school bus and then would beat me up. My Dad began noticing the bruises, as did some of the teachers, so I begged them not to hit me anymore. Then they came up with an alternative. They said that if I agreed to be filmed basically going up to unsuspecting guys and kissing them then they wouldn't touch me. Of course, if I turned them down they would beat me really hard instead.

'Thankfully I didn't have to do many of those videos as summer break came quickly and my Dad took me and my brother and sister on holiday but there were at least two or three films and I saw them linked to facebook so the whole school saw them. They made me look like a sex crazed lunatic. It was humiliating."

Jack seemed to come to a natural end. He looked up at Blaine to judge his reaction.

"What happened to Trent?"

"I don't know. I didn't really speak to him again. He avoided me I think. He played Varsity Soccer the next year and so he wasn't around in theatre much after that."

Blaine nodded and gently asked, "Why didn't you tell anyone what was happening?"

"I was so ashamed. Honestly, I just became focused on getting to the summer holidays. I figured that it would all be better after that."

"And was it?"

Jack clammed up and began to look a bit panicked.

"Look Jack, I know there is more. Mr. Gibbs told me that things got way worse after the summer."

Jack looked at Blaine in terror. "No. He's wrong. He always thought there was more but there wasn't."

Blaine felt shredded inside for Jack. He knew that Jack was lying but he also knew that the kid was in no state to cope with anything else. Jack started crying, tears running down his face, his expression pleading with Blaine not to push the topic any further.

"OK… shush," Blaine moved slowly, gauging Jack's reaction and finally sat next to him on the couch. He gingerly put his hand on Jack's shoulder and rubbed it soothingly.

Jack slowly melted under Blaine's touch and curled himself in to a ball, sobbing in to his knees. Blaine just sat next to him, rubbing his back in soothing circles and handing him tissues while he let the boy cry out his misery.

* * *

When Jack began to slow his sobs, he looked up at Blaine. "I'm sorry for the things I said about Kurt."

"Thank you, Jack. You know Kurt is only here to help. He definitely doesn't want to make things harder for you."

"I know. I just… I wish he hadn't singled me out like that. I'm doing OK here and I don't want things to fall apart. Why is he so obvious about who he is? It's embarrassing."

"You know Jack, Kurt is a really proud guy and he is very comfortable with who he is. When he was your age, people tried to make his life difficult for being gay too and he made a decision then that he wasn't going to hide who he is for anyone."

"What happened?"

"You'll have to ask him for that story. It's not mine to tell. But I will say this, accepting who you are and living it is the best gift that you can give yourself in this life. No one can take that away from you. You've been hurt really badly. I know that I am still missing massive pieces of your life and when you are ready I hope you will feel comfortable sharing them with me. But until then, I think it's important that you know, when I look at you, I don't see a beaten down, tormented kid, I see a survivor."

Jack looked up at Blaine with his tear stained face.

"Really? … huh… I feel like a coward."

"Jack, to have gone through all the things that you have and to still be standing takes more guts than I certainly have. You are really brave."

Jack looked away but there was a small smile on his face.

"I need to ask this of you though. While you sort out who you are, I need you to try not to tear down others for being who they are," Jack looked a bit ashamed.

Blaine squeezed his shoulder gently.

"Jack, there is no need to be scared of Kurt. You know he is a good guy and he only wants to help. You could learn a lot from him. And it's true he can get a bit carried away sometimes but don't be afraid to say no to him clearly. He will be respectful of that. Also, just hanging out with him will not make people think you are gay so you don't need to be embarrassed by his choice of clothes and fashion… although it's totally fine to be amused by some of his more off-the-wall creations every now and then!"

Jack smiled a bit at that. "OK… maybe… I'll think about it," he said. And then, "Blaine, why do you thing that Mike guessed I am gay?"

"I don't know buddy. It may have just been a lucky guess but you would have to ask him. It doesn't sound like he was being nasty about it though."

"No. Mike's cool. He was just standing up for me."

"Good."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes and then Jack yawned and rubbed his face.

Blaine smiled, "It looks like you could use a nap. I always find that helps when I have just gone through a difficult moment."

Jack nodded and turned towards Blaine pulling him in to a hug. "Thank you." Blaine felt all sorts of happy fluff run through his body. Jack had never reached out to him like that before.

Jack released the hug after a few seconds and then looked at Blaine shyly. "I know it's not my place to say, but Kurt really needs some help in there. He's being walked all over."

Blaine felt some sadness in his heart but smiled his thanks to Jack.

"I'll see what I can do... Jack, do I have your permission to talk to Kurt about what we talked about today? I think it could really help him understand what went wrong. I'm sure he is feeling all kinds of terrible right now."

Jack bit his lip and gave Blaine an assessing once over.

"OK…will Kurt think less of me because I'm not sure who I am?"

Blaine gave a small laugh and shook his head. "No way! He will understand totally. Jack, never forget we've both been where you are now. Figuring out your identity and your sexuality can be one of toughest parts of being a teenager… actually of being an adult. I don't think you ever stop learning that lesson."

"OK then… but please don't tell him everything I said about him. I feel pretty bad about that."

"Of course."

"Alright," Jack stood up and walked to the door. "Have a good weekend, Blaine."

"You too buddy."

Once Jack had left the office Blaine sprawled back on his sofa in exhaustion. He needed a drink and badly. He was seriously glad that it was Friday night.

He wondered if there was someone else who could also use some alcohol and a shoulder to cry on. He contemplated the wall opposite him for a few minutes, weighing up his options and then made his decision.

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_Please review : ) It makes me feel all gooey inside!_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Kurt heard the front door bell ring but his head was muffled under the pile of pillows that he was currently trying to bury himself in to. He shut his eyes to the sounds in the house and tried to slip back in to the oblivion of sleep. All he could see before him were images of Jack looking distressed and that kid Michael's face as he told him about the sex video.

He felt nauseous as he thought about what Blaine must be thinking of him. What a total joke. He couldn't even cut it for a week and here he had promised faithfully to stick it out until February. Well there was no way that he would be able to keep that promise.

He was startled out of his maudlin thoughts by a knock on his bedroom door.

"Not now Dad, please. I'm really not in the mood for dinner tonight."

"Kurt, it's Blaine."

"Shit!"

Kurt sat up quickly and wondered how loudly he had just sworn. He heard the door open slowly and a tentative, "Can I come in?"

"What are you doing here?" Kurt asked emphatically.

Blaine's head appeared around the edge of his door. "I heard you have had a pretty horrific day and I brought Mango and Passion fruit Bacardi Breezers to make it better." A six pack appeared around the edge of the door as proof.

Kurt smiled despite himself. "You are ridiculous… OK fine, come in but I warn you my hair is a disaster zone." He started scrambling around for a suitable hat to cover the offending mullet on the top of his head.

Blaine appeared around the door and stopped when he saw Kurt in bed. "Wow, that's a flashback right there. I feel like I'm 17 again, sneaking in to your Dad's home for a sleepover."

Kurt blushed. "It's alright, I'm dressed." He pulled aside the comforter and climbed out of bed, identifying a beret that didn't clash with his shirt and plopped it on his head.

He hurried toward the door of his room. "Let's get out of here. I'm sure that the last thing either of us needs right now is further complications that are sure to arise if we stay in my bedroom."

Blaine smiled at the unintentional innuendo and bowed jokingly to Kurt while opening the door and ushering him out. Kurt rolled his eyes and looked down at the contents in Blaine's hand.

"Bacardi Breezers, really? I haven't had one of those since McKinley I don't think."

Kurt kicked himself for sounding ungrateful. He was still reeling from the complete surprise of Blaine's sudden appearance in his bedroom.

"Ah, well they are having a comeback and this was the only choice apart from beer at the 7-11."

"Thanks Blaine, that's really sweet. Sorry, I promise to stop being an ass."

Kurt led the way downstairs and in to the family room at the back of the house. He sat on the couch and took a really good look at Blaine. He looked gorgeous in dark, form fitting jeans, a red shirt and charcoal gray woolly cardigan. Kurt flushed at the fact that he was still in crumpled clothes that he had been sleeping in for the last two hours. He resisted the urge to get up and change, telling himself strictly to calm down.

Blaine took a seat on the couch next to him and swung his body around so that he was facing Kurt, knee on the couch and arm along the back. He looked remarkably relaxed compared to how anxious Kurt was suddenly feeling.

"It's good to see you," Kurt said. "I have to admit, I wasn't sure you would want to speak to me again after today."

Blaine smiled. "Trust me. We have all had days like that. It's kind of par for the course when you are working with this population."

Kurt found himself staring at Blaine for a minute too long. "Sorry…I am a bit startled that you are here. In a really good way," he clarified quickly. "It's just that after our last conversation I didn't know how you were going to react. I kind of wondered if this was it."

"Why? Because the kids gave you a hard time? Kurt, I'm pretty impressed that you are doing this at all. Of course, I'm not going to think badly of you that you are finding it hard. I'm grateful that you are still in Columbus and didn't hop the State," Blaine said this with a smile but he was only half joking.

"Trust me. The thought has occurred. But overall, I think I would regret it. Also, I am sure Mr Schue would kick my ass if he ever found out that I bailed from something like this so quickly."

Blaine laughed a little. "Good to know that Mr Schue is scarier than I am."

Kurt smiled.

"How's Jack?"

"He's OK. He came to my office and we talked for about an hour. I think in some ways we had a bit of a breakthrough. I'm just sorry it was at your expense."

"That's OK. I really fucked up."

"What happened?"

"You know… I just ran out of ideas. I thought that if the kids heard one of their own singing they might be a bit more respectful and would understand what I was trying to achieve. But no one would volunteer and I just knew that Jack would do great and would amaze them all. I totally pressurized him which was stupid. I just thought that if he got over the fear and sang then everything would be OK."

"So he told me that Michael jumped to his defence and it got quite out of hand."

"Yeah. I mean God that kid went for me. Although based on how miserable Jack looked I probably deserved it. I have no idea what made Jack leave the room though. He was uncomfortable one minute and gone the next."

"Ahh, I have some light to shed on that. Jack told me I could share parts of our talk today with you."

Blaine handed Kurt an open bottle. Their hands touched and Kurt savoured the jolt that went through him. He looked up at Blaine who met his eyes and gave him a sweet knowing grin.

"Go on," Kurt encouraged. "I have my drink, I'm ready to hear where it all went wrong."

"OK. So I don't know if you remember this but according to Jack, Mike said to you something that implied Jack is gay."

Kurt's eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah, possibly, I think he said something about how I couldn't force Jack to do something just because we are both gay."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Did you then say something agreeing with that statement?"

Kurt frowned. "I don't remember, it all happened so quickly. I told Michael that that wasn't the reason that I was asking Jack but then Jack was gone…"

"Yeah. So here's the deal. Jack is super sensitive about anyone thinking he might be gay. It seems that he was severely bullied in his previous school when people found out there. I haven't even got half of that story yet I don't think, but we are talking a cyber-bullying campaign that makes the hallways of McKinley seem like a fairy playground."

"Oh, poor kid." Kurt felt a wave of pure empathy run through him. He wanted to run to Jack immediately and wrap him up in cotton wool.

"Yeah. As a result, he's living in constant terror that the kids will rumble him at TH and that everything will start back up again. He is pretty freaked that Mike seems to have guessed and I think when you didn't deny it, he felt that you "outed" him in some way."

"What? I don't even remember saying that."

"I know. Kurt, the reality is the inner workings of a 17 year old boy's brain at the best of times are often illogical. Multiply that by ten when you have a kid who has been through the stuff that Jack has."

"You really think it gets worse than what you already know?"

"I'm scared that it does. No one seems to know what happened to him exactly but the level of fear he shows when anything related to homosexuality comes up is really concerning."

"Oh the sweetheart," Kurt gave a loud sigh and leaned back deep in to the sofa closing his eyes.

"I admit it, Blaine" he said, directing his voice towards the ceiling. "I am in way over my head and I don't have the first clue where to go from here."

Blaine leaned back with him. "I'm not sure I have that many answers Kurt but I'm happy to help if you will let me."

Kurt turned his head to the side and opened one eye. He raised an eyebrow in Blaine's direction. "Really? I thought you were totally against this whole idea from start to finish."

Blaine smiled a little and bit his lip. "Well, let's just say, I'm quite enjoying having my own little stalker at the school."

Kurt groaned and hit him with the back of his hand in the arm. "Not funny."

"No. OK, admittedly bad timing. But I can't help thinking that what you are doing is pretty romantic. And honestly I think you could be awesome for the kids."

"If they ever give me a chance."

"They will. We just need a strategy."

Kurt thought about that for a minute and then sighed. He turned his body around to face Blaine and put his arm up on the back of the sofa, his head resting on his hand. In this position he could enjoy the view of Blaine to soften the blow of his next traumatic revelation.

"Did you hear how the rest of the class went after Jack left?"

"No. I had a note from the counselor asking me to get in touch with her first thing on Monday morning. What happened?"

"That kid Michael got right in my face and told me some home truths. I didn't mind too much as I probably would have done the same thing at his age, but he dropped the biggest bombshell. Supposedly the video of the sex tape is on YouTube and he implied that he and a number of the other kids had watched it."

Blaine froze. "Oh SHIT! What did you say?"

Kurt laughed rather bitterly. "Nothing. He didn't give me a lot of space to say anything and then he walked out and the other kids left behind him."

"I'm sorry Kurt. That's horrible."

"The worst bit was, he told me that I wasn't very good in the video. I know it is ridiculous that that would bother me but somehow that's the only bit of the whole day that is looping in my head."

Blaine bit the inside of his cheek, not quite covering his amusement. "I find that verdict deeply improbable based on years of personal experience. Maybe the other guy ruined it?"

Kurt smiled ruefully. "He wasn't anything special, that's for sure. Closet cases usually aren't as they are too scared of being caught out that they don't tend to relax. Ironic, really in this circumstance."

"So… have you looked on YouTube for it?"

Kurt felt his face flame. "NO! …Well, OK, I thought about it but then I decided ignorance is bliss. I don't know how I am ever going to leave the house again as it is. I certainly don't want to make it worse by seeing the images that other people have lodged in their heads. Yuck… I feel so gross and dirty."

Blaine reached his hand out and took Kurt's hand in his. "I'm so sorry. It's totally not OK. Can you call your agent to get it removed by YouTube?"

"Yeah, I guess. But I suspect the bigger deal I make of it now, the more media attention will come my way again and I can't tolerate that right now."

Kurt felt Blaine's hand squeeze his and he looked in to Blaine's eyes. He couldn't believe that this amazing man was in his home right now and that, even after everything, he thought that Kurt was still worth spending time with. He sighed deeply and realised that in this moment he felt more relaxed than he had been all week.

"So while we can't control what's happening out there. What am I going to do about your delightful children?"

Blaine smiled. "Dave calls them a pack of hyenas, if that's any consolation? He heard me tell one too many stories one night and decided that it was the most accurate description."

Kurt laughed. "Yeah that does help a bit."

Blaine grinned and then sobered up giving the question some thought. "I mean the reality is that this is going to be a challenge. You know these kids are not like New Directions or the Warblers. I mean let's be real, Mr Schue didn't really have to teach anything. You guys were so talented and so motivated that all he had to do was channel the energy and make sure you didn't kill each other. And the Warblers were so self-motivated that we didn't need a faculty advisor, which is actually, looking back on it, ridiculous.

'The TH kids are not going to be like that. I mean I have no idea what the talent level will be like in that room. The first hurdle you are going to have to overcome is a room of kids with no self belief, which is why asking for volunteers has gone so badly. Not one of them will put themselves forward like that because they all genuinely think that they will fail. Even Jack, who we know has talent oozing out of his pores, will not take the risk.

'So we have got to figure out how to get the kids to buy in to what you are selling and jump in."

Kurt nodded. That made a lot of sense. "So Yoda, where do we go from here?"

* * *

Blaine and Kurt spent the next few hours coming up with strategies, ideas, lesson plans and song choices.

They had moved off the couch and were now sprawled on their bellies on the floor surrounded by pieces of paper with brainstorming ideas, diagrams and stupid drawings that Kurt had scribbled in frustration.

"I wish we had your guitar here," Kurt sighed while they were trying frantically to remember the middle bridge to one particular song. "Hey, what's the deal with that anyway? Was Jack right when he said that you don't play anymore?"

Blaine had his chin resting on his balled fist on the floor. He now moved up with his weight resting on his forearms so that he could see Kurt better.

He closed his eyes in thought and Kurt could see him breathe in. When he opened his eyes they were so pain filled that Kurt actually felt as though he had been punched in the gut.

"I stopped playing soon after we split…" Blaine put his head down on his hands. "I don't know… I just, I wasn't in a good place at all and every time I picked up the guitar all I would remember is you. It just became really painful and so bit by bit I stopped playing."

He shrugged and looked back up at Kurt with a disturbingly blank expression. "Hey, it's not like there are that many chances to play and sing as an adult anyway, so it's not that big of a deal."

Kurt felt a desperate need to contradict him and tell him all the ways that his thinking was flawed but he could see that Blaine did not want to discuss the issue further. He looked so raw. Instead Kurt filed it away as something he was determined to see change in the future.

He smiled at Blaine instead and put his hand on his shoulder. "OK. Well, let's see how we can make do with just our stellar voices, huh?"

Blaine smiled and rolled on to his side with his raised up on his hand. "You know, I'm kind of enjoying this. I'm remembering all those planning sessions in college while we figured out how to ace auditions and wow fundraisers. Do you remember that night we stayed up 'til three in the morning, fuelled mainly on caffeine shots and jelly doughnuts?"

"Oh no way, those jelly doughnuts were all yours. I think I was eating spoonfuls of that disgusting Brewer's Yeast. I swear whoever sold that to me as a pick-me-up must have been laughing all the way to the bank. I'm pretty sure it was made from sawdust."

Blaine laughed. "That's right. I'd forgotten that. I just remember being so wired and the dorms were quiet so we had to run in to the middle of the science quad and sing at the tops of our voices just to take the edge off! I thought for sure campus security was going to come and arrest us but no one did."

"Do you remember after that?" Kurt's eyes sparkled at the memory. "The old oak tree? That was a pretty special night. I'm just glad we woke up with the dew and had enough time to get dressed before anyone found us."

Blaine looked straight in to Kurt's eyes and smiled. "That was a really good night. Although I think we both had stinking colds for a week after!"

"Yeah, lots of chicken noodle soup as I recall."

Both men smiled at each other and were silent for a long few minutes.

"It feels weird being this close to you without touching you," Kurt admitted.

"I know." Blaine responded.

Kurt sighed and turned back to the blueprints of their campaign in front of them.

"Are you sure you are going to have time to come help me with this? I know this is your usual key time for meeting with the boys."

Blaine rolled on to his back and stared up at the ceiling. "I'll juggle things around a bit. Once you are on your feet you won't need me so regularly and I can probably spare two afternoons a week on a regular basis. I'll make it work."

"I'm so anxious about this. I had no idea that this would be harder than facing a casting panel in an audition."

Blaine looked over at him with a worried expression. "Kurt, are you going to be OK with this? I mean the sex tape is going to keep coming back to haunt you. The kids will bring it up whenever they want to score a cheap point. Are you going to be able to cope with that?"

Kurt closed his eyes and sighed. "That fucking tape is going to follow me around wherever I go now. And honestly, I know it feels like it should bother me more, I guess I don't really feel connected to it in any way. It feels more like one of my acting jobs gone wrong. It definitely wasn't me in that room. I haven't been me for a while. Does that make sense at all?"

Blaine nodded. "Yes. Actually, a lot of sense."

They smiled at each other and once again found that they were unable to break eye contact, still savouring the connection for too long.

Blaine finally coughed and rolled away from Kurt. "I should get going."

He stood up to leave and started to pull on his sweater and jacket. Kurt felt suddenly really awkward and anxious. He didn't know what to do now.

Blaine looked over and saw him fidgeting. He broke in to a big smile and closed the gap between them in two paces. Then he pulled Kurt in to a bear hug and held him close.

"I love that you are doing this. Thank you."

Kurt relaxed in to the hug and squeezed back tightly. "Thank you for coming to my rescue. I feel like a damsel in distress but I am really grateful."

Blaine released the hug and for a second Kurt wondered if he was going to kiss him, but he didn't. He just squeezed Kurt's hand one final time and told him he would see him on Monday.

Kurt followed him to the front door and then leaned his head against it once Blaine had left. It was official, this bizarre dating thing that they seemed to be starting was going to kill him.

He heard a cough behind him and turned around to see his father standing there.

"So… are things OK? Are you going to quit?"

"No, Dad. Not this week. My knight in shining armour has ridden to the rescue."

Burt shuffled his feet a bit and then nodded.

"Good. I knew that Blaine was the good sort." With that he turned and walked in to the living room to watch the football.

Kurt smiled after him and then went to clear up the papers in the family room. He looked down at the sheet with the plan for Monday. His stomach had butterflies just thinking about it. He hoped it would work.

* * *

_A/N: The feedback on the last chapter blew me away. I was smiling all evening. THANK YOU to all of the amazing people who took the time to comment. Goo central._

_I totally blame you all for the fact that this chapter ended up much sweeter than I was expecting! I hope you enjoyed it... p__lease review : ) _


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: Thank you to all the reviewers for your amazing support with this. I was overwhelmed last night with all the kind feedback. _

_Here is another fluffy chapter with a point – enjoy because the hardcore angst is upon us._

_As a side note, I just want to say, I'm not very musical and so the actual Glee Club is going to be very much in the background to this story as we sort out all of Jack, Kurt and Blaine's individual issues. I hope that's not too disappointing. Feel free to suggest song choices that you think the group should sing. I am feeling very much uninspired in that area._

* * *

Chapter 15

On Monday afternoon Blaine walked in to the coffee shop across the street from TH. He smiled when he saw Kurt was already seated at a table waiting for him.

"Hey, you ready for this?"

Kurt looked more anxious than he had the day they sang Candles for Regionals. "I don't know about this Blaine. What if it's a total disaster? What if they start throwing things or laughing or…"

"This from the New Directions kid who got a cat thrown at him in a nursing home? Come on Kurt! You'll do great. We both will."

"I know. I am just freaking out… I'm really not sure the extra large latte with triple shots was a good idea either. My heart is about to beat out of my chest." He looked up dramatically at Blaine. "Maybe it's too much? Maybe I should go to the hospital instead?"

Blaine came over behind Kurt and put both hands on his shoulders and leaned down to whisper in to his ear. "You are adorable." He paused, knowing they both knew the full impact of those words and the memories attached to them. "Come on, Kurt. Let's go tame the hyenas."

They started out as planned by meeting with Jack and Michael in Blaine's office.

Jack looked like he wanted to crawl in to the sofa. He refused to meet either Kurt or Blaine's eyes and just chewed anxiously on his nails. Michael looked ready for combat.

Blaine started the conversation. "Guys, you both know that at TH when an incident occurs we always get all the parties together and talk through what happened so that everyone feels heard."

Both boys and Kurt nodded. All three seemed very anxious and Blaine tried hard not to be amused by this fact. He had not seen Kurt look so young in years.

"Can I start first, Blaine?" Kurt asked.

Blaine waved his hand in invitation and sat back to let Kurt say his piece.

"I want to apologize to both of you." Michael looked up at Kurt in surprise but Jack kept his head down and his eyes averted from the group.

Kurt continued. "I was totally out of line. Michael you were right to point that out to me. And Jack I am so sorry that I made you uncomfortable."

Jack flushed red and kept his eyes down.

Michael gave Kurt an assessing once over look and then nodded his head slightly. He hesitated for a moment and turned to look at Blaine for reassurance before glancing back to Kurt. "I'm sorry too. I said some really terrible things to you. You were out of order but you didn't deserve that."

"Thank you, Michael."

"You can call me Mike. All my friends do."

Kurt smiled in acknowledgement. Blaine nodded a smile to Mike. He was so proud of him. They had talked for a long time that morning to get Mike to that point. He was still pretty angry and probably very embarrassed for having lost his temper on Friday. It had taken a while before he would admit to Blaine that he had gone over board.

"Oh and what I said about that thing on the internet? I'm sorry about that too. You were pretty hot actually."

Kurt flushed completely and Blaine bit his lip to contain his amusement. He had kind of suspected that Mike might be gay himself but Mike had never disclosed that so he hadn't been sure. But now Mike looked directly at him with an open grin and Blaine returned the smile with a nod of understanding.

Jack looked up at Mike in surprise and seemed genuinely confused. He didn't say anything though.

Blaine decided that maybe they needed a few minutes with Jack on his own. "Mike, are you set to go back to class? We just want to have a quick word with Jack." Mike nodded and stood up.

Before he left though, he turned to Kurt, "You're not going to stop teaching us are you? You are kind of cool."

Kurt smiled brightly at him. "I'll be there today at three pm."

Mike nodded. "Good." He walked out shutting the door behind him.

Blaine caught Kurt's eye and they exchanged relieved smiles. That had gone better than expected.

Jack was back to looking at the floor.

Blaine went over to the second seat of the sofa where Mike had been sitting and sat next to him.

"Jack, what's up?"

"Nothing. I just don't have anything to say is all."

Kurt spoke up. "Jack, I really am sorry you know. Blaine told me how you felt on Friday and that you are scared of the school thinking you might be gay."

Jack looked at his hands and said nothing.

"You know, I totally understand that fear. When everybody thought I was gay I dated a girl in my sophomore year to prove them wrong."

Jack looked up in shock. "You did? But you're so comfortable with who you are, why would you do that?"

"Because I wasn't always this way. It took a long time to accept that fact."

Blaine piped in at this point. "I even have him beat Jack. I dated a girl, very briefly, in my junior year." Jack's eyes blew wide in shock. "It's not easy accepting who you are when the World tells you it's better to be straight."

Jack looked at them both. "I don't want to be straight. I just don't want to be hurt for being gay."

Kurt leaned over and put a hand on his knee. "I understand that more than you know. Did Blaine tell you that I had to transfer to his high school because I was so badly bullied that a football player threatened to kill me?"

"No." Jack looked up at him, eyes rounded with surprise.

"Jack, I too had to transfer in sophomore year, a year before Kurt, because people wouldn't quit messing with me either."

"Huh. I thought it was just me that's been through this."

"No way," said Kurt. "But I will say this, you have had it worse than most other kids and that's really unfair. I've got to tell you though, I don't think the kids here would care if you were honest with them." Jack looked at him skeptically.

"No, I mean it. Look at the clothes I've been wearing for the last week. Admittedly they are fabulous but they are not your generic off the rack GAP outfits. Everyone here knew I was gay before I opened my mouth. Yet they have all been really welcoming to me, even Mike, once he realized that I really wasn't trying to be mean to you."

Jack mumbled something but then shook his head.

Kurt decided to continue on. "You know, it seems like Mike was trying to be a friend to you when he stood up for you to me. We all need friends like that." Kurt caught Blaine's eye and smiled at him.

Blaine noticed there was something in Jack's expression that was wrong but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"What do you think Jack?" Blaine asked.

"I think he should have minded his own business. I don't need other people taking care of me."

Blaine bit his lip and shot a quizzical look at Kurt who shrugged. Jack just glared in moody silence.

Kurt squeezed the hand he had on Jack's knee gently. "You know sometimes just trusting another person to be good to you is one of the hardest things you can do. I know that I am not very good at that and it's something that I am still working on."

Jack looked up at Kurt in surprise. "But you have friends."

"Yeah, and I'm lucky they put up with me sometimes." Kurt kept his eyes on Jack but Blaine felt the words impact him just as powerfully.

"So you want me to be out and proud about being gay and then trust that kids like Mike won't make my life hell? I'm not sure I can do that."

Kurt nodded in understanding. "Well how about just one small step of that? How about you give kids like Mike and maybe some of the others a chance to prove if they can be good to you and then you can see if they are worth your trust before you tell them?"

Jack grunted noncommittally.

Kurt continued on. "You know, I have to do something kind of similar today. You know how badly everything fell apart last week? So now it's my turn to trust that the kids here will be kind to me and give me another chance. I have to trust them not to hurt me too and I'll tell you Jack it's taking every ounce of guts that I have to be even in the building today."

Jack held Kurt's gaze and bit his lip in thought. "Huh. I hadn't thought about it like that. You're scared of us?...Weird."

Kurt laughed. "You guys can be pretty intimidating you know."

Jack just kind of shrugged and looked away.

Blaine was amazed at how vulnerable Kurt was allowing himself to be with Jack but he hoped it would have a really positive impact. Jack certainly seemed to be considering what Kurt was saying but there was something else there too. Blaine felt that he was not quite getting a full read on Jack at the moment and wondered what he was missing.

The three sat in silence for a few minutes and then Jack turned to Blaine.

"OK, I think I'm done with the heart to heart. Are we good? Can I go back to class now?"

Blaine nodded, a little surprised at the bluntness of the request. "Sure. See you at 3pm?"

Jack looked at them both for a minute. "Yeah, OK. See you then. Thanks, Kurt."

"No problem," Kurt smiled at him. They both sat back and watched as Jack exited the room. Blaine didn't feel completely easy about Jack's mood but he decided to let it go.

* * *

When the door to the office closed behind Jack, Kurt came and flopped beside Blaine on the couch, closing his eyes with his head thrown back. "Oh my GOD! That was intense. How did I do?"

Blaine looked over at this amazing creature who was putting himself through such emotional turmoil just to show Blaine how much he cared. He looked at Kurt's pale but relieved expression and felt his heart bursting with love and pride.

When he didn't respond, Kurt opened his eyes and looked at him quizzically. "What? Did I mess up?"

"Not at all. You were perfect."

Kurt bit his lip and smiled at Blaine. He looked so cute and unsure of himself that Blaine immediately pulled him in to a hug and tucked his head under his chin. Kurt returned the hug eagerly and held on tightly allowing the comfort to wash over them both.

Blaine breathed a sigh of contentment. It felt like coming home. He breathed in Kurt's scent and allowed his nose to bury itself deep in to Kurt's hair just enjoying the sensations and feelings of his former partner and best friend. Kurt squeaked a little in indignation at having his hair messed with but then buried his face deep in to Blaine's shoulder and soaked up the smell of clean shirt, fabric softener and Blaine.

"I've missed this so much." Kurt breathed.

"Me too".

They lingered in the embrace for a short while until Kurt was the first to pull away. "OK... before I get too lost in this "sharing of the brotherhood" moment, we need to prepare for step 2 of the Save the Glee Club mission."

Blaine laughed. "You've got to come up with a more original name. That's a pathetic attempt."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Well let's save it first, then we can fixate on a name."

"OK. Deal."

* * *

Blaine was amused to admit that now he was getting nervous himself. He had spoken to Sarah and they had agreed that after the disaster of last week, it would be best if Kurt and Blaine addressed all the kids at 3pm together so that they could all get the chance to hear what Glee was about and then opt in or out from there.

At 2.50pm, he and Kurt had set up the chairs and desks in the choir room to accommodate all thirty students. He looked over at Kurt who finally appeared to be relaxing. Of course, performing was what he did best, but Blaine hadn't performed outside of a karaoke bar in fast approaching ten years. His nerves were kicking all the way in. He wondered how long it would take to live down mass humiliation in a home full of teenagers with biting wit and decent memories. He thought idly that maybe a one way plane ticket to LA looked to be a better option all the time.

By 2.55pm the staff and kids were starting to straggle in to the room. They looked totally bemused at having their regular routine interrupted for this impromptu school assembly and they all did a double take to see Blaine and Kurt together at the front.

Blaine found himself rocking on his toes and stretching his neck out anxiously. Suddenly he felt two hands on his shoulders and a voice in his ear "Courage." He turned to Kurt and smiled.

When the kids were as settled as they were ever going to be, Kurt counted him in and Blaine kicked off the first verse of Katy Perry's Firework. A hush fell over the group as they listened to a really popular staff member startle them with a talent they did not know he had.

Kurt took over in the second verse and the kids were mesmerized. Blaine took a moment to look out at the staff members who were all looking at each other with big smiles on their faces. This was having an impact and breaking through. Blaine caught Jack's eye in the audience and Jack positively beamed at him giving him a thumbs up.

Kurt's voiced soared as Blaine knew it would and he joined him in the harmony they had spent a large portion of Friday night figuring out. When they got to the bridge of "Boom, Boom, Boom" Blaine moved towards Kurt until they were facing each other and they started circling eachother in some basic dance moves. In his nightmares, this was always the bit where he figured he would lose the kids and they would start laughing and getting rowdy, but actually a few of the kids began to dance around in their seats instead.

The atmosphere in the room became electric and when the song drew to the end, Blaine was amazed when the kids started cheering, hollering and stamping their feet. He pulled Kurt in to a sideways hug and together they took a bow.

Then Blaine stepped away and motioned with his hands asking the kids to settle down.

"OK," he said once they had quiet. "Kurt and I wanted to show you what a real Glee Club experience is like. I know a lot of you came last week and it was a bit all over the place but now you see what kind of things we are aiming at."

The kids listened respectfully and some of them looked down at their hands a bit embarrassed.

"I want you to really think about if you want to be a part of this. It will be really fun but hard work too and you need to be prepared to sing. We will help you with that, but if that's not your thing, then we totally get it and will be happy when you come and support us at the end, just like you all did now."

He looked over at Kurt and non-verbally asked if he wanted to say anything.

Kurt nodded and stepped forward. "I wanted to say that I have really enjoyed meeting you all and I am really excited about putting this concert together with you. I want you all to think about your favorite music and bring it for us to work on."

A murmur went through the group as the kids, clearly motivated by the performance they had just seen, began whispering ideas to each other.

Kurt put his hands up and got quiet once more. "I also have an apology to make. When I met with Mr. Selby last week he told me very clearly that this home is a safe place both emotionally and physically for everyone here. Now I know that last week, I didn't do a great a job at making sure everybody felt safe. I want to assure you all though that the Glee Club will be a place where it is expected that everyone is respectful of everyone else's wishes and feelings. That means that there will be no tolerance for disrespectful comments. It also means that if anyone does not want to do something they will not be pressurized to do so." Kurt looked directly at Jack when he said that. "I hope that those of you who think this sounds fun will come and join us and to the rest of you, we very much look forward to your support in February."

Blaine looked at Kurt and nodded his approval. Kurt had certainly hit that out of the park.

He took back over the announcement, "So you guys can go away and think about this. There will be a sign up sheet that will circulate the dorms this evening. If you choose to join us then rehearsals will start here tomorrow at 3pm as usual. Thank you everyone for listening so well and have a great evening."

Blaine gave the kids a big smile that many of them returned. The staff too nodded their support as they rushed to herd the kids in some form of order out of the School Side.

Kurt came up beside Blaine and breathed out an audible sigh of relief. "That seemed to go well."

Blaine grinned back. "I think this calls for ice cream to celebrate," Blaine glanced at his watch. "I have about an hour to spare. Mr. Hummel, would you accompany me on an ice cream date across the road? My treat?"

Kurt smiled back. "Why Mr. Anderson, I would be very much obliged," in his best Scarlett O'Hara impersonation.

Blaine felt a warm rush of happy emotions spread through his body. He was amused to think that this would be their first real date since they were 17. He offered his arm to Kurt with mock chivalry and Kurt pretended to swoon. Together they snuck out of the side entrance of TH and went to bond over ice cream flavours and the success of today.

* * *

_A/N: T__his chapter did not flow as easily for me as a lot of the others. Please let me know if it read OK._

_Also prepare for massive angst tomorrow._


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: Thank you all for the encouragement yesterday._

_Here comes more angst._

* * *

Chapter 16

Things progressed far more smoothly for the next month. The Glee Club had about ten regular kids who all seemed totally enamored with the fact that both Kurt and Blaine were teaching the class. As Blaine was the Social Worker for the boys' floor, the girls did not usually get much opportunity to interact with him and given how amazingly gorgeous Kurt knew him to be he guessed he couldn't begrudge the girls crushing on Blaine. Kurt was highly amused that it seemed that Blaine had more admirers in the school than Kurt did as the resident guest celebrity.

Blaine was awesome though and Kurt found it incredibly sexy watching him interact with the kids, sorting through problems and encouraging even the shyest member of the group to find their singing voice. He was pleased to see Blaine thriving on the musicality of the class and the spark that Kurt had seen dimmed now reappeared shining in full force. Blaine had even managed to loosen up the kids enough to start dancing after he led the way with a few very hammed up, high energy solos. Soon there were kids throwing themselves in all sorts of weird contortions around the room and it turned out that at least two of the girls were pretty accomplished gymnasts. Kurt was thrilled as it opened up the possibilities of performance options hugely.

Kurt started to really look forward to the daily class. He began a regular routine of working on the song choices and lesson plans in the morning and then heading over to meet Blaine for lunch at around one pm. He then joined Sarah in her art room from two 'til three, sometimes making props and costumes, but other times just interacting the kids and making crafts with them. He guessed he was getting a bit of popularity in his own right and it felt so good after all the fake negativity of LA. He knew that here there was no bullshit, the kids told him exactly what they thought and did not bother saving his feelings at all. Kurt found it all very refreshing.

The end of November was fast approaching and Kurt knew that in December Blaine was going to have to drop his involvement to two days a week as discussed. Kurt was anxious about that but knew that it was more realistic. He also hoped this meant he would be able to see more of Blaine in the evenings as Blaine would not have to work late so often.

So Kurt was hatching a plan to mark this moment for the kids and for Blaine. He felt that a minor landmark celebration was in order and he had an idea.

* * *

On Tuesday afternoon Kurt stood in front of the group to make his announcement.

"As you all know, from next week Blaine has to go do his real job and he will only be joining us on Mondays and Thursdays." This was met with a loud groan that made Blaine blush.

"So," Kurt continued with a smile, "I think we should celebrate how much work we have all done and the brilliant progress each one of you has made."

The kids all looked at Kurt expectantly, as did Blaine. Kurt had purposefully decided not tell him in advance, as he wanted to try leading something in the group on his own for a change. He had instead gone through the logistics with Sarah to ensure that he had all the necessary plans and permissions in place.

"So I think we should go to Polaris Mall and sing a few of the songs that you guys have perfected to the Christmas shoppers."

A lot of noise broke out in the choir room. Some of it was excited and some of it was anxious. "We can't do that. They'll throw us out."

Kurt smiled at the girl who voiced this concern. "Actually, no, I checked with Polaris already and they have local community groups coming in to do performances regularly. They even have a small stage area near the centre of the mall that is set just for that. They are excited about us coming."

"Are we good enough?"

"Sure. I think we have at least three songs that are good enough for a short public performance. The whole thing will last twenty minutes tops and then you will be free to go wander around the mall. I will even treat for ice cream for everyone who participates."

That caused a much more positive stir as each of the kids factored in the benefits of an afternoon out of school and an opportunity to go shopping, with free ice cream.

Kurt looked at Blaine who raised his eyebrows at him in amusement. He saw Blaine look around at the group and then turn back at him and wink. This was going very well.

Kurt looked at all the excited faces of the teens in front of him and then he saw Jack. Jack was not looking amused or excited. In fact his face was cold and stormy. Kurt suddenly remembered a conversation that he had had with Blaine recently where he had expressed concern that Jack did not appear to be willing to leave TH. In fact Blaine had told him that the last time he knew Jack had left the home was on his birthday outing to the Wicked exhibit. That had been about five weeks before.

Kurt thought about leaving Blaine to talk to Jack but then he remembered that soon he would be managing the class on his own three days a week so instead he steeled himself and decided to deal with this problem personally. Blaine also seemed to have noticed Jack's demeanor but he stayed seated where he was when Kurt shook his head very slightly at him. Blaine's face had a small smile on it and his eyes communicated understanding and trust. Kurt felt a burst of pride shoot through him.

When they wrapped the class and escorted the kids over to the dorms for the evening Kurt followed Jack to the boys' floor.

"Jack, can I have a quick word?"

Jack rolled his eyes but opened his door and invited Kurt in to his room. Kurt was surprised by how tidy and organized it was. There were a few posters on the wall and Jack's guitar was lying on the bed but otherwise Kurt was saddened by how bare of personal possessions the room seemed. A lot of the kids seemed to have so much stuff that their rooms were overwhelming but Jack appeared to be living with just the basics.

Kurt tentatively sat down at Jack's desk while Jack sat cross legged on the bed and pulled his guitar up across his belly almost as a shield. Kurt considered briefly commenting on this but Jack shot him a look that clearly stated "get on with it".

"Jack, I saw in Glee today that you did not seem excited by the trip on Friday. I just wanted to touch base with you on that."

"There's nothing to touch base on. I'm not going."

Kurt looked confused. "But why? It will be really fun. Blaine and I will be there and the other kids, we'll have a blast."

"Look I don't want to go and you promised me that you wouldn't make me do anything that I didn't want to do."

Kurt started to scramble to rack his brains for a way out of that one that did not seem too pushy. "Yeah, OK. That is true…but I don't understand what it is that you don't want to do? Is it the singing or just being out of TH?"

"IT'S NOT EITHER!" Kurt was taken aback by the shout. "I'm not some scared little kid who's is going to wet his pants because of singing some stupid songs in a mall. I just don't want to go, OK?"

"OK!" Kurt raised his hands in emphasis. "Fine. I'm not going to make you go. I'm just going to say this and then I'm going to head out and leave you alone. I really enjoy you being a part of Glee. You are important and it would mean a lot if you did come. If you really don't want to, that's absolutely fine but do think about it because we would miss you."

Jack didn't say anything. He just hunched over his guitar and started strumming some notes. Kurt heaved a sigh and left saying goodnight to him on the way out.

The next day Kurt got a phone call from Blaine.

"Hey, congrats on persuading Jack to join us on the trip! What did you say to him?"

"Wait, what? He told me he wasn't coming," Kurt replied.

"Well he told me in session this morning that he was coming but for the record he thinks the idea is lame." Kurt could hear Blaine's smile though the phone.

"Huh… cool. So that's everyone then. I just hope the van doesn't breakdown en route!"

Blaine laughed. "You are so dramatic. I'll make sure it has gas before we head out on Friday. I think this was a really good idea of yours Kurt."

Kurt couldn't help but feel all warm and fluffy inside. It felt really good to impress Blaine about something.

* * *

Friday rolled around and Kurt, Blaine, ten kids and Melissa, a counselor, strolled in to Polaris mall ready to take on the challenge of singing in the community. The kids were clearly amped up and anxious. Blaine and Kurt had had to sit on two separate benches in the van to stop arguments and keep some semblance of order on the way to the mall while Melissa drove.

Jack had indeed joined the group although he sat in the very back by the corner window with his hat pulled low on his head. He looked like a defended porcupine, glaring at anyone who came close to him. Blaine and Kurt wisely kept their distance and miraculously all the kids seemed to know on instinct that he was not in a mood to be messed with.

Now that they were in the mall Kurt led from the front to the stage but he saw that Blaine had surreptitiously positioned himself within touching distance of Jack in the hope that he could lend the kid some support. Kurt swallowed a gasp when he looked at Jack's face which was now very pale. His eyes were dark and he looked like he was ready to bolt. Blaine met Kurt's eyes across the group and they both shared a look of anxious concern.

Kurt sidled up to Melissa and quietly communicated to her what was going on. To her credit she didn't even look at Jack, but just nodded her understanding and agreed to be on alert should anything happen. She immediately started shepherding some of the girls who looked transfixed by a cool bag shop.

Kurt decided the best thing for everyone would be to get the show over with and then set the kids loose so that the adults could focus on Jack if need be. He gathered the kids together by the stage, reminded them of the song selections and ran through basic expectations and boundaries. The kids were expected to stay in buddy pairs and meet back at this meeting point by 4pm. Everyone raised their watches and phones to prove that they had the time and a means to contact the staff if they needed any assistance.

Kurt lined the kids up on the stage and ensured the sound system was on. Unfortunately, he found himself unable to relax and enjoy the performance. He was so focused on Jack, and Blaine standing near him, off to the side of the stage. The kids sang the three songs they had chosen well. There were no solos as although they had a few strong singers, as of yet, none of the teens had the confidence to step in to the limelight on their own. It didn't matter. Their group performance was such a huge step forward that Kurt found himself welling up with tears of pride.

It was only at the end of the third song that Kurt realized that Jack was gone. Blaine, too. He tried to stop his mind from reeling and stayed focused on the kids in front of him. He was pleased to see that they had collected a decent sized audience of about forty people and he joined in with them, cheering and whooping when the final song, Lean on Me by Bill Withers, came to an end.

The kids were giddy with adrenaline when they piled off the stage, gathering around him and Melissa excitedly. Several of the listening audience came over to congratulate them in person and everyone looked so happy with the attention they were receiving.

"Where are Jack and Blaine?" Mike asked. Several of the girls turned to Kurt with surprise and concern on their faces.

Kurt pulled off a fake, nonchalant expression and said, "I don't think Jack was feeling that well. Blaine went with him to find a bathroom."

That calmed the anxiety of the other kids although Mike shot Kurt a questioning look. Kurt ignored Mike's glance and encouraged the kids to head off in to the mall. He promised that the ice cream would be at 4pm when everyone had returned successfully on time, with no drama, to the meeting point.

Melissa set up camp in the centre of the mall to be available to the students as necessary. This allowed Kurt to hurry off to find Blaine.

He was just heading up to the second floor of the mall when he got a text from Blaine.

_I've got Jack. C__ome to the van ASAP and bring keys please._

Kurt immediately patted down his jacket and was relieved to find that he had a set of keys on him. He turned quickly to the nearest exit and started walking fast. His instincts told him to run but he knew that if he did that he would freak out the other teens in the mall and the last thing that he wanted was for Blaine to accuse him of being overly dramatic.

Kurt couldn't help but sprint the last twenty yards to the van as he could not see any sign of Jack or Blaine anywhere. When he got close he called out for Blaine loudly and immediately saw the dark curls bob up from the back of the van.

Blaine spoke in an incongruously calm and slow voice. "We are just here. No need to shout."

Kurt picked up the cue quickly and slowed his movements right down, leveling his voice to a similar pitch as Blaine.

"How are we doing?"

He rounded the back of the van and saw Jack pressed against the back of the bus in a state of significant distress. He was curled tightly in a ball and he was shaking. There was a pool of vomit next to him and he had clearly been sick. Blaine was sitting on the ground, back up against the van too, staying close by but not touching him.

"Do you have the keys Kurt?" Blaine broke in to his thoughts.

Kurt was so startled that it took him a second to react. He was transfixed by the horrifying state of Jack in front of him.

"Kurt?" Blaine's voice pierced his conscious thought process.

"Oh yeah… sorry…" he fumbled in his pocket and dragged out the key. "Here."

Blaine made no move to take the key from him but instead looked up at him meaningfully, clearly indicating that he should hurry up and open the van. Kurt moved quickly then and got the back door open.

Immediately Jack bolted in to the van and curled up on the floor in the middle under the window. He started to sob and the sound was heart wrenching. Blaine took the keys from Kurt and said quietly, "He's having a panic attack. Stay or go but if you stay I need you to keep very quiet and follow my lead."

Kurt looked at him startled but nodded.

Blaine climbed in to the van and crawled on to the middle bench near Jack but not crowding him. He put his hand out to touch Jack's shoulder but stopped quickly when Jack showed signs of distress at the touch.

Kurt climbed in to the front seat to be out of the way but still able to drive if they needed to get Jack out. He looked at the clock. It was about 2:30 so lots of time and hopefully Melissa could hold down the fort at the mall. He checked his phone had signal in case she needed anything.

The van was filled with the sounds of deep wracking sobs. It was completely heart breaking. Kurt turned around in the driver's seat and leaned up against the steering wheel facing Blaine. Blaine just looked at him over the top of the seats. His face was blank which did not do much to comfort Kurt at all.

Finally the sobs started to subside and Jack's breathing became less audible. Blaine reached out to Jack again and this time Jack did not flinch from his touch.

"Hey buddy," he said tentatively. "How's it going?"

Kurt was relieved to hear something that sounded like a choked down laugh at the ludicrous question. The he heard Jack heave a massive sigh.

"I'm covered in vomit. That's gross."

Both Blaine and Kurt chuckled back a bit in return. Jack shifted off the floor of the van and pulled himself in to the seat next to Blaine. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to cause so much trouble."

Blaine moved to him quickly and pulled Jack in to a hug, ignoring that his shirt was now going to be vomit covered as well. He just held Jack to him and rubbed his back.

"What happened buddy?"

"I don't really know." Jack said, his voice muffled by talking in to Blaine's shoulder. "I was feeling pretty anxious earlier but I didn't want to let you guys down and I thought I could make it. But then walking in to the mall, it was so big and overwhelming and there were people everywhere. I began feeling really shaky and I thought I might be sick.

'Then when we were on stage I thought I saw someone from before in the mall and I just had to get out of there. I remember running, finding it hard to breathe. I remember you were behind me. Then the next thing I remember is being sick behind the van and feeling so scared."

He released the hug and sat back looking at Blaine. "Thank you for coming after me. I don't know what I would have done if I had been on my own."

"No problem. Who was the person you thought you saw, Jack?"

Jack tensed up and turned away from Blaine. "Just someone from the house I stayed in before TH."

Blaine nodded but Kurt was totally confused. Blaine had not filled him in on much of Jack's history.

Jack started talking. "His name's Derek. I don't think it was him though. He wouldn't have been at the mall, unless maybe he was on a job. He didn't seem to see me or recognize me. I think it's OK. We didn't have anything to identify us did we?" Jack's voice was rising in increasing panic.

"No," said Blaine. "We didn't announce who we were or anything as Kurt and I agreed that it was better to be anonymous."

Jack looked relieved. "It's probably alright then."

"Jack, who is Derek?"

Jack looked at Blaine and sighed. "He's not a nice guy. He sort of ran the squat and he ensured that people gave favors to pay for their stay in the house." Kurt didn't know what Jack was saying but one look at Blaine's face told him that this wasn't good.

"What kind of favors, Jack?" Blaine asked.

Jack looked blankly down at his hands. "The bad kind. He wasn't that interested in money although you had to pay a certain level in rent. If you were short one day or he felt that you needed to pay extra for some reason, he would demand it in other ways."

'It's why I hid my guitar, like I told you. I could see that he would get annoyed when most days I was able to pay my rent and he didn't have an excuse to get more out of me. Not that it stopped him sometimes but I had an easier time of it than most. I think if he had known about the guitar then it would have gone missing so that he would have had more opportunities to have at me."

More than the words Jack was saying, the thing that terrified Kurt the most was the direct nonchalance with which Jack spoke. He was talking about a despicable situation with as much emotion as he might complain about a difficult history assignment. Kurt looked over at Blaine who was revealing no emotion whatsoever and avoiding eye contact with Kurt completely.

"How did you get out of there?" Kurt couldn't help himself but ask.

Jack looked up at him in surprise as though he forgot that Kurt was in the van. Then he grinned ruefully. "I wasn't able to get enough rent one day and so I tried my hand at shoplifting. Clearly that is not a calling for me. I was caught by shop security who called the police and arrested me. The police then called Social Services and voila."

"Woah. I'm so glad that you ended up out of there and at TH."

"Yeah, so am I." The mood of Jack was all wrong. He was far too upbeat for a kid who had just had an epic panic attack. He seemed too calm, collected and rational.

Blaine spoke up now. "Jack, are you scared that someone's looking for you? Is that why you have been so reluctant to leave TH?"

"I'm not scared of anything," Jack said indignantly.

Blaine soothed him with his voice. "You're right, scared was definitely the wrong word. What about worried?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "No, there's no one who's looking for me, I don't think. I just don't like going out. Bad things happen outside whereas at TH people can be annoying but at least you know what's coming."

Blaine nodded his understanding. "It's more predictable, that's true. You seemed fine at the Wicked exhibit though?"

Jack flushed. "Well, I knew it would be hard to get lost there as you would be with me."

Kurt kind of ached inside at the simple sweetness of that statement. It spoke so much to the trust that Jack had in Blaine to look after him.

"But I was here today."

"I know. It's why I agreed to come. I don't really know why today was so much worse. I think there were so many of us, and the mall is huge and then singing in front of people again, that's hard. It brings back memories of how desperate I was before if I didn't get enough money or whatever. Also you never knew when someone might try to snatch your money or your guitar when you were street performing. It's hard to be reminded of all of that…" Jack trailed off.

Blaine and Kurt looked at each other not knowing really what to say. Kurt started to feel very guilty for encouraging Jack to join the trip at all but on the other hand he knew it was ridiculous to want to encourage Jack to stay in his self imposed cage because he was too scared of the outside world.

Jack piped up. "Are we done angsting yet? I stink and I really don't want to be here when the others get back."

That snapped Kurt and Blaine in to action. He was absolutely right and they still had nine other teenagers to herd back to TH safely. After a brief conversation it was agreed that Blaine would take Jack back to TH in the van, get cleaned up and then he would drive back to the mall to get everyone else.

Kurt therefore found himself surrounded by nine bouncy teenagers devouring bucket loads of ice cream while they waited for their ride. He had rarely felt so not in the mood for ice cream and boisterous teenage company.

When Blaine arrived back to pick up everyone else, he had a hugely chirpy demeanor and Kurt could see something was very wrong. As they loaded up the van, he grabbed the chance and attempted to pull Blaine to one side. "What's up?"

Blaine just shook his head and Kurt was shocked at how flat and emotionless his eyes were. "Let's talk about it later."

Kurt nodded and silently climbed in to the back of the van feeling more nervous than ever.

* * *

_See what I did there? It's a massive cliffhanger! Woot Woot!_

_So Jack is starting to unravel and bringing Blaine with him. Whatever will Kurt do?_

_Oh dear! Please review..._


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: I am very proud of this chapter. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you as always for your support._

_Warning: Discussion of an attack with some tough language included in context._

* * *

Chapter 17

Blaine knew he was in trouble. He had been holding himself together so well since his last major angst out in that coffee shop all those weeks ago. Now he had been well and truly leveled by a scared, confused 17 year old kid. And Kurt had been there so now there was no way to hide, no time to process the multiple thoughts running through his head.

Kurt asked to meet for dinner that night so that they could "debrief" what had happened. Of course Kurt had never seen a teenager in emotional crisis and Blaine remembered the first time he had seen that and how unnerving it was. This one had been particularly unnerving not least because Jack had plummeted down so fast but also because he rebounded far too quickly for it to be real.

On top of this, the Pandora's Box that was fast becoming Blaine's life was now well and truly open to the elements which meant that he would have to deal with the contents imminently and he really didn't feel good about that.

He agreed to meet Kurt after work in a cozy little Italian not far from Kurt's Dad's home. He had managed to scrub himself up and look presentable for the dinner but when he arrived he realized that he was in danger of bursting in to tears at the table. He knew his responses and timings were off as Kurt looked at him with deep concern. He was clamping down so hard on the swell in his chest that he was answering basic question in monosyllabic form. This was not working.

He looked across the table at Kurt who was staring back at him with warm compassionate eyes and a tender expression. He knew he would never find anyone so beautiful again in his life. He finally lost the battle and a tear spilled out down his cheek. He swiped away at it angrily but then Kurt caught his hand and said, "Blaine, we'll take our orders to go and go to my Dad's. It's more private there and I promise I'll take care of you."

Blaine wanted to struggle with the implication that he was a five year old child in need of TLC but inside he was relieved. It felt so good to be with someone who knew him well. He allowed Kurt to get his meal wrapped and to take him by the hand and lead him out of the restaurant. Unfortunately chaos rained at Burt's house as Finn and Shannon had taken over the downstairs with their two kids so Kurt quietly asked if he minded going to Kurt's bedroom. Blaine agreed quickly and just focused on staying composed and polite until the door was safely locked behind them.

Kurt led him over to the bed as though this was the most natural place for them to be and as Blaine lay face down on the comforter he started to sob. He wasn't even sure he knew what he was crying about completely. His body just took over his natural resistance and he lost it. If Kurt was at all surprised by this he didn't show it and instead crossed his legs under himself and settled next to Blaine on the bed, providing warmth, companionship and love with no overtones of any expectations at all.

Blaine cried until there was nothing left to wring out of him. For a while after he just lay buried in the comforter, his head turned away from Kurt just savoring the peace, comfort and silence in the room. Gradually he pulled himself back together, feeling the warmth of Kurt's hand pressing on his body through his shirt. He fixated on how nice that felt and drew strength from Kurt's presence. Slowly he gathered his strength and sat up to face Kurt, taking some tissues and the glass of water gratefully. He could feel the build up of a pressure headache in the front part of his brain and he must have winced because the miracle worker beside him produced two Tylenol out of thin air. He knew then as always that he loved this beautiful creature and as painful as this would be, he had to try to find a way to get through this conversation and keep Kurt around.

He took a deep breath and looked up at Kurt almost shyly. Kurt was looking right back at him with his own tear stained cheeks. Blaine doubted that Kurt was even aware that he had been crying, he had always sympathy cried when Blaine had been really torn apart by things.

"I'm sorry to have ruined dinner."

"There will be many others. I am just glad that you came home with me here and allowed me to take care of you for a change."

Blaine smiled tiredly. "It's been one hell of a day."

Kurt nodded. "I know. The crazy thing is that, apart from Jack, the rest of the trip appears to have been a total success. The kids were raving about the show, none of them got up to anything stupid in the mall as far as we know and they were fairly bouncing off the walls when we came back."

"You did good Kurt. Well done."

"So did you Blaine. You bound Jack together when I thought he was going to fly apart today. You really are amazing at what you do."

"Thank you," Blaine ducked his head and looked bashful. He could feel his ears turning red.

Kurt reached out a hand and put it on Blaine's knee gently. "Is he the reason that you are so upset tonight? I mean I know that listening to Jack can be very traumatic and you are definitely carrying his whole load with him, but I know this isn't your first time of going through this."

Blaine felt shredded. He was terrified about what he was going to say next.

"No," he said honestly. "It was the panic attack."

He looked carefully in to Kurt's eyes and saw dawning comprehension. "Yeah, that was hard. It brought back a lot of memories for me too."

"Are you OK with us talking about this now?"

Kurt gulped but nodded slightly. "OK." His face visibly paled and it was clear that he was becoming anxious.

Blaine closed his eyes and held his breath then he looked at Kurt. "Before we talk about that night and what happened after, I first want to say that I love you. I know I said that before in the coffee shop, but Kurt, what you have done over the last month, the way that you have put your life on hold and come in to my world to give us a chance… words can't express how I feel about that. I love you and I don't want anything that we say in this conversation to impact on that… but I'm scared that it will."

Kurt started to cry again. He had tears running down his face and he pulled Blaine in to a big hug. "I love you too. I love working with you. I love seeing you in your world. I love the doors that you open for me and the way that you challenge me. I love the way that you were there to pick me up when I fell. I love you Blaine. Oh Shit! We need to promise each other that we won't destroy each other with this conversation."

Kurt pulled back and looked deep in to Blaine's eyes.

"Promise me," he demanded agonizingly.

By this point Blaine was crying again too. "I promise."

"OK."

Kurt took Blaine's hand in his and planted the tissue box between them as though somehow that was going to help. Blaine bit his lip to stop himself from smiling at the absurdity of the gesture.

"Where do we begin?" Kurt asked tentatively.

Blaine ached at the awkwardness and ran a hand through his hair, not caring how mussed up it was. He felt like a wreck already. He shut his eyes and breathed in, summoning courage for his next question.

"Kurt, when we broke up… did you really feel like I pushed you away?"

Kurt blinked at the directness of the question. "Oh wow. No easing in then, huh?"

He looked Blaine deep in the eyes and squeezed his hand tightly. "Yes… but looking back on it now with the benefit of a lot of hindsight I can see that it all became too much for both of us. I honestly don't know if we would have made it if we had stayed together that year. Who's to say things wouldn't have carried on?"

Blaine closed his eyes in pain. "I just keep thinking about all this wasted time. I'm sorry that I went so off the deep end. I just couldn't stand not seeing you safe and you looked so much happier with Mark. I guess I felt that he could offer you what I couldn't."

"God, Blaine. Mark didn't mean anything to me. He was a shoulder to cry on and a kid who shared a similar dream to me. That was it. It was hardly the epic romance of the decade. It's a miracle we lasted two years. I think he kept hoping that I would suddenly fall in love with him, but that was impossible as I never stopped loving you."

Blaine felt his cheeks burning up with the heat of the emotions he was feeling. "You know I want to hurt those men so badly for what they did. Seeing Jack today, I just kept seeing you backed up against the dumpster vomiting up all the panic and fear that they brought to us. We were college kids for fuck's sake. We weren't meant to be community icons to be torn down in that way."

"It certainly wasn't in the Orientation Manual. There should have been an entry, 'Beware Student Politics – the graveyard of all human decency,'" Kurt quipped.

Blaine allowed a tiny smirk on to his lips and he met Kurt's eyes for a brief second.

"We don't even know that they were students. I think that's what did my head in. It felt like we were being attacked on all sides by invisible tormentors and we had no idea when the next hit would come. At least with Karofsky, you knew who the bully was and to some extent you could protect yourself from him. With this attack it was like psychological torture. I felt like I was looking at every student and staff member in the quad, the union and the dorms, always questioning whether the smile they gave us was lies or genuine."

"It was when the police said they couldn't do anything because the men hadn't actually done anything to us. That's what really got me," Kurt said. "I mean destroy our emotional and psychological safety by all means, but it doesn't count unless you've got some bruises to show for it."

"Not that they would have found anyone anyway. Our descriptions were appalling, six men, all taller than us, wearing combat clothes and ski masks. You are hardly going to get a good e-fit out of that."

"True…God. Do you know I still have nightmares about that night? When they dragged me away from you and took me out of sight. I had no idea what they were going to do to either of us."

"And that was the point, wasn't it? To let us know they could have done anything and they could do it again at any time."

Kurt nodded in agreement. "I think we both went a little crazy after that."

"I don't know," countered Blaine. "Apart from the panic attacks that were mostly gone within a few months, you were looking pretty much back to normal. It was me that kept seeing ghosts everywhere and not sleeping."

"That's because you were so focused on keeping me safe. I could never persuade you that it's useless to try to protect someone else. If you had it your way, I would have been chained to the bed all of senior year."

"At least you would have been safe."

"Blaine, the cost wouldn't have been worth it. If you are going to stop living then the bastards win."

"Is that why you went off with Mark?"

"Mark was just a friend, Blaine, until just before we moved to LA together. I promise. I have no reason to lie about that now. I would tell you anything today as you are too important to lose over a ten year old lie. I was never interested in him until it became impossible to live with you. For months you couldn't bear me out of your sight. Do you remember that? I think one day I had 44 missed calls from you. And then from the day I brought my new friend Mark home to meet you, it was like you couldn't stand to be in the same room as me. Do you know, that last week before I moved out you said 26 words to me total? I counted. I couldn't live like that Blaine. That was six months after the attack and you weren't managing any better. And you refused to see the counseling staff…"

"We agreed that we wouldn't tell anyone about it…"

"I know. That was really stupid. I know that at the time it made sense and yeah it sucked always being seen as the victims and having our family and friends so scared for us. But this was so much bigger than us and we were out of control. I truly believe that our decision to keep it quiet was the largest single factor in destroying us."

Blaine breathed in a haggard breath. "Do you know, I couldn't even tell David and Wes? I saw them last month. We went out for drinks. They say hi by the way." Kurt gave a half smirk in response.

Blaine continued. "We were talking about you and Wes asked again why we broke up in the first place. I decided that I couldn't tell him about the attack because somehow I still needed your permission. Stupid, huh?"

"No, it's not stupid but I do think not talking about it openly gave the whole incident more power than it should ever have had. It also prevented you from getting the help you needed and I am sorry about that. I know I was the one pushing for secrecy as I was sick of always being victimized and being scared. I didn't look after you well and I am so sorry Blaine."

Blaine pulled Kurt back in to a hug. "We couldn't look after each other well at that point. We were too damaged."

Kurt squeezed Blaine back. "So let's talk about it now, so that we can finally deal with what happened and then move on."

Blaine released Kurt and nodded. "OK. I don't know what I remember but shall I start and then you fill in the gaps?"

"Yeah. Sounds good."

"I remember that night we were walking back from a movie… what was it?"

"Something chick flickish, "Mona Lisa Smile"? I remember thinking Rachel would have loved it."

"Yeah that's right. I remember feeling pretty happy. It had been a good month. We had both been elected after those horrific campaigns, you were the Vice President of Arts and Culture for the Student Union and I was President of the LGBTQ. I remember everybody kept telling us that now the elections were over, the madness was going to die down."

"In fairness," Kurt piped in, "they were probably right. I mean we didn't get nearly as much abusive mail and emails as we had."

"No, we just got attacked."

"Yes."

"I remember bizarre details," Blaine carried on. "I remember how good you smelled. You were messing around making your own scents at that point and there had been some horrific results but that night I remember you smelled like honey and summer."

"God, it's weird you remember that. I remember your hair. You had just had it cut for the first time in months and I remember thinking you looked so distinguished rather than your usual mess."

"Gee, thanks," Blaine allowed himself a brief moment of laughter to enjoy the tease.

Then he got serious again.

"I remember that we were taking a shortcut down the alley behind the Chemistry labs. That place always stank. Even now I feel sick to my stomach if I get a whiff of ammonia. That smell never goes away… I remember being grabbed. I was holding your hand and you were pulled away from me. I remember struggling and fighting but not being strong enough to break loose. I remember you screaming my name and not being able to reach you," Blaine could feel the prickles behind his eyes as tears threatened to fall again.

Kurt just sat silently letting him talk now.

"I remember losing sight of you when they dragged you around the corner of the building. I remember this man's voice in my ear telling me all the things they were going to do to you, how they were going to hurt you. I remember feeling completely helpless and absolutely believing that you were being hurt. I remember them laughing, thinking that my fear was really funny. I remember them calling me every abusive slur in the book. I remember them telling me they would come back for you and next time they would hurt me too. I remember them letting me go and laughing as I stumbled and fell over while I tried to get to you. I remember coming around the corner and finding you alone sobbing against the dumpster. I have never been so scared and relieved in my life."

Kurt moved from where he was sitting and wrapped himself bodily around Blaine, bringing Blaine's head to his shoulder and straddling his legs around Blaine's hips. He pulled him close, enveloping him completely. Blaine was sobbing again although he felt much more contained this time. He felt so safe.

Kurt started to speak. "I remember them grabbing me from you. I think there were three of them. They told me they were going to hurt me and make me do things for them. They told me that I should like it because I am a queer fag who should enjoy sucking as much cock as he can take. They told me that you were weak and that you wouldn't come to help me. They told me that I was alone. They told me that I deserved to die for being so blatant and that if I did not stop flaunting my lifestyle then they were going to come back and stop me themselves. I think I was in a state of shock when they dumped me on the ground and then left. It was only a minute or two before you appeared but I remember feeling so petrified that it was like I was stuck to the ground. I remember you coming though. I remember clearly feeling that I was safe and then I remember throwing up."

Kurt held Blaine tighter and they both breathed more easily. It wasn't the first time they had shared those thoughts with each other but there was something that was different this time. Probably it was the distance of time and space and a feeling that now they couldn't be touched. Somehow talking about the memories before had always weakened them and led to fear and fighting. Now Blaine felt that they were taking control, by acknowledging the memories, acknowledging their impact and then removing their power. This time unlike all the others there was no blame.

After a number of minutes, Kurt spoke again. "I think the really sad thing is that their script was so unoriginal. It was like an amalgamation of all the worst screen writing rolled in to one. I wonder how long they spent planning it."

Blaine smiled in to Kurt's chest. "You are right. Not original, but highly effective."

"True."

Kurt leaned back on to the bed pulling Blaine down with him so now Blaine was laying with his head on Kurt's chest and Kurt's arms wrapped around him tight.

"God, what a mess."

They held each other for a few minutes more until Blaine rolled away with a growl of frustration, he lay on his back with his hands on his head, elbows sticking up. "You know, we should have sorted through this much earlier. Why did we leave it so long?"

Kurt put a steadying hand on Blaine's elbow nearest him.

"Because we were young and it was too much. God, Blaine the constant stream of abuse we both took for the three months of those elections campaigns and then as soon as we thought we were safe and dropped our defenses that happened. No one can cope with that, or the constant threat that it could happen again. We can't keep beating ourselves up over this. It ends here."

Blaine rolled on to his side and met Kurt's eyes. "You are right. Enough… It ends here. Thank you for coming home."

The two men stared in to each other's eyes for a minute and then slowly Kurt raised a hand and began tracing Blaine's lower lip and the definition of his cheekbone. Blaine licked his lips at the touch and smiled at Kurt. Achingly slowly Kurt leaned forward and kissed Blaine, pressing their mouths together firmly and tenderly. Blaine sighed in to the kiss and savored the feeling of Kurt's lips against his. He moved his hand to hold Kurt's head tighter to his mouth and slowly deepened the kiss. He felt Kurt's hand come up and touch his cheek, feeling his presence. Then he felt Kurt give a little moan of contentment.

When they broke the kiss, both men looked calmer and happier than they had in a long time. Blaine lay back on the bed and shut his eyes savoring the moment. Kurt kept his head on to his hand and traced the definition of Blaine's collar bone through his shirt.

"I don't want to disrupt the moment but do you mind if we talk about Jack for a minute? He terrified me today."

Blaine turned to his head and opened his eyes to look at Kurt. "I know. It isn't good. I was really glad you were there though. I appreciated the moral support. You know, the thing that really scares me is that we still don't know the most vital piece of Jack's story. That part was bad but it was just what happened to him this summer. There is another eight months of story missing."

Kurt breathed an audible gasp. "It surely can't get worse than that?"

Blaine looked at him with desolate eyes. "I hope not. But I think it does. You don't get a teenager talking in that blasé manner about something as awful as being forced to give sexual favors for rent without there being a hell of a lot behind it. Besides from the way he told the story it was clear that Jack chose to stay in that place under those conditions rather than find a safer option. He said himself that he was there about two months. To make that choice, to put up with those conditions… something went very badly wrong before to make that an acceptable option."

Kurt frowned. "What does it mean that the squat was a better option than whatever he left?"

Blaine shrugged and Kurt threw himself back on the bed in defeat. "Oh God. How do you do your job? I don't know if I can deal with this much pain on a regular basis."

Blaine chewed his lip and then reached over and pulled Kurt towards him encouraging him to lay his head on Blaine's chest. "This is unusually bad and like I say, hopefully I am wrong. But this is a crash course of trauma in action. The bad news is that I think Jack is decompensating fast. His melt down today was very scary and to bounce back as quickly as he did, with no obvious residual effect, suggests that there's more to come. I expect that he will hit rock bottom pretty soon."

"What's rock bottom?" asked Kurt tentatively, burrowing his nose in to Blaine's chest through his shirt.

"Honestly, it's the bad and the good. It's not going to be pretty that's for sure. It's impossible to say what form it will take so everyone will just have to be on high alert with Jack. On the good side, a lot of kids never actually hit rock bottom, but those that do often start genuinely making improvements because they are then able to start working on their trauma rather than just glossing over it and learning to work around it."

"OK, so I should be happy or excited about this?" Kurt asked in a bemused way.

Blaine huffed a small laugh. "Just be prepared."

Blaine stayed quiet for a few minutes longer and the two men remained in a comfortable embrace with Kurt tracing patterns on Blaine's stomach through his shirt. Blaine contemplated getting up and heading home but he was far too comfortable where he was. "Kurt, do you mind if I stay here tonight? I really don't want to go home to an empty apartment."

Kurt raised his head and turned to meet Blaine's eyes with a smile. Then he leaned forward and kissed Blaine's forehead sweetly. "Of course. I was going to suggest it, but after the last time I asked to spend the night with you, I didn't want to ruin anything."

Blaine flipped on to his stomach and looked at Kurt seriously. "Can we just wipe that night off the table? You weren't yourself and we were both emotional wrecks. I don't want you to still be beating yourself up over it. I'm not wasting time thinking about it at all. You've more than proven yourself to me. I just want us to move forward from here. I love you Kurt and I am so glad you came back in to my life."

"Me too."

The two men reached for each other simultaneously and their mouths met fast. Soon they were kissing sloppily and giggling at the edge of desperation that had formed due to the slow burn of sexual tension over the last few months. Quickly they settled in to a comfortable groove and both men stayed like that, fully clothed, wrapped in each other, sharing kisses, hugs and comfort until exhaustion carried them in to a comfortable deep sleep.

* * *

_A/N: So did you like it? _

_I think the next chapter will be fluffy before the next bout of angst. Yay for fluff!_


	18. Chapter 18

_AN: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all the kind reviews. I was blown away by the response to the last chapter. You guys are so sweet and I really appreciate each one of your comments._

_Apologies for the delay on this chapter. I am now back at work and so the posting will slow down a bit. The good news is that I have the rest of the fic mapped out and I have already written large chunks of it, so I will definitely finish. I think it will be somewhere around 25 chapters, give or take._

_So here is fluff with a solid dose of angst. Sorry! I was struggling with pure fluff – it was all sounding too cliché and cute… blegh! _

_Enjoy…_

* * *

Chapter 18

Kurt woke up with a start. There was someone in his bed, currently wrapped around him like an octopus, breathing on the back of his neck. He had a nasty, sinking feeling as he wondered what drink fuelled orgy he had allowed to get out of hand this time. He never let tricks stay over.

And then his brain started to kick in and he remembered that he was home in his Dad's house and that bizarrely he was still completely dressed. Then it hit him with a bolt that the person currently slobbering in his hair was Blaine. God, it had been so long that he had forgotten about the hair slobber habit. His momentary irritation was gone though when he suddenly realized the full impact of this information.

Blaine, his Blaine, was IN. HIS. BED. Kurt felt as though he had just won the lottery. His heart did a happy little leap and he scooted back in to Blaine's warm body and was rewarded with an even tighter hug from the arm that was currently across his chest.

He sighed in to the warm safe cocoon and remembered the turbulence from the previous night. He felt like a new man. They had had the break up conversation and had talked about all the difficult points and yes, it had been hard and they had sobbed themselves dry, but now it felt like there was actually some hope of a fresh start.

Kurt didn't pretend to himself for a second that everything was resolved. Far from it but somehow it seemed like the first big peak had been attempted and surmounted and for a sunny wintry Saturday morning that would have to be a good start. He felt Blaine stir behind him and his heart started to beat faster as he irrationally worried that maybe Blaine would regret his decision to stay. The he felt Blaine's lips in his hair, kissing his scalp and his heart started to melt. He had a feeling this would be a good day.

* * *

Half an hour later both men were seated at the kitchen table under the very amused eyes of Carol and Burt. Kurt felt like he was 17 again. He had never been caught once when he had snuck Blaine in a few times for a sleepover but now he felt an unreasonable amount of guilt for showing up at the breakfast table with an unannounced guest. The fact that the guest was Blaine, who had stayed over legitimately at the house on multiple occasions while they were in college, was irrelevant to the feelings churning in his stomach.

Carol, however, was clearly enjoying Kurt's discomfort and making happy chit chat with Blaine, catching up on nine years worth of news over toast and coffee. On the other hand, Burt was reading the Sports pages and, every so often, giving his son a glare. However much Kurt hoped that his father was messing with him, he kept a wary eye out just in case. He was relieved that there did not appear to be any real heat in the looks he was being sent. Although he was sure this would not stop the lecture about respect and asking for permission before inviting someone else over to sleep in the house.

At that point, Kurt was saved further embarrassment by the arrival of Finn, Shannon and the kids again. Kurt was surprised after they had just been visiting the night before, until Finn explained that he and Shannon had a wedding to attend in Cleveland and so Burt and Carol were babysitting. Burt looked thrilled with the idea and scooped up both grandkids as if he hadn't just spent the previous evening with them. Kurt smiled at the scene and looked wistfully at Blaine who had caught his eye.

Finn came around the table to greet Blaine properly and swept him up in to a trademark Finn bear hug. Kurt noticed Finn lean down to say something in to Blaine's ear at which point Blaine flushed red. It was so not fair that his whole family was ganging up on his like this. Although he ignored the warm fuzz in his heart that he was surrounded by people who loved him deeply enough to mess with him. It had been a while.

* * *

Blaine had to go home after breakfast for clean clothes though he made Kurt promise to stop by his apartment for a late lunch. Kurt was relieved by this as he was not sure how he would manage a whole day on his own. Truth be told, he was missing Blaine already and it had only been a few hours.

Around three in the afternoon, Kurt pulled up outside Blaine's apartment in Victorian Village. He had missed seeing the place properly on the previous visit as he had been otherwise distracted. The flat was the top floor of an old house in the area that had been converted. Kurt loved the originality of the house, with the brightly painted woodwork and the sloping eaves. It was so full of character and so fitting to Blaine's somewhat old fashioned tendencies. He kicked himself for being too romantic but then decided he really didn't care.

He let himself in the metal gate at the front of the house and then rang the doorbell. Inside he could hear footsteps pounding down the wooden staircase, before Blaine appeared looking gorgeous as ever in tight blue jeans, a navy sweater and a gray shirt that brought out his eyes. He beamed at Kurt and gestured for him to turn around taking in the full effect of the Armani waistcoat ensemble. Kurt proudly showed off the outfit that he had spent two hours creating with an over the top turn and dramatic flair of his arms.

"Charming," Blaine responded. His eyes filled with marveling laughter.

He took Kurt's hand, pulled him in to a welcoming kiss and then led him upstairs. Kurt walked through the door in to the living room and stopped, overwhelmed at what he saw. The furniture in the room had been pushed to one side and on the floor was a big picnic blanket. Various dishes were dotted around the blanket and Blaine had shut a few of the blinds and lit candles to create a really cozy atmosphere.

Kurt felt his eyes well up and he quickly raised a hand to catch a stray tear as his face split in two from the enormous smile. "You remembered."

"Of course. Our post-fight ritual. How could I forget?" Blaine looked at him a little uncertainly but there was no need, Kurt had launched himself on to Blaine and was currently kissing him furiously.

"Not that we actually fought last night," Kurt pulled back to clarify, "but still, what a fabulous idea!"

"Thank you. I admit I was racking my brain to consider what else might be fun to do in Columbus in December." Kurt opened his mouth to answer but Blaine just shook his head, "No malls."

Kurt pretended to look completely offended but then ruined the effect by doing an odd little skip over to the blanket in his excitement.

He looked up when he got there. "Please don't tell me that you have been baking today?" he was a little incredulous. Blaine laughed. "Just one batch of cookies. I couldn't resist – it wouldn't be a real picnic without homemade cookies."

Kurt sat down quickly and gestured for Blaine to join him. There was an amazing assortment of food in front of them and Kurt was so touched. In the past he had always been the one to initiate the picnic idea. It seemed that in the last nine years, Blaine had actually learned something about the joys of food and cooking himself. And the cookies were to die for. Who knew that Blaine actually could use an oven successfully? That was definitely a new development.

A few hours later, Blaine and Kurt were sprawled on the blanket with the debris of empty plates around them. They had been chatting happily about everything and nothing and now Kurt was drifting in to a nap in the peace and quiet with his head on Blaine's stomach. He was startled suddenly by finger poking at his arm.

Slowly he lifted his head and looked at Blaine with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on his face. "Yes?"

Blaine huffed a quick laugh at the playful expression on Kurt's face. "I was wondering if you could move so I can get a drink."

"No." Kurt resettled himself immediately on Blaine and sighed happily.

The poking finger started again. "Mr. Hummel, please move. I'm really thirsty and I have been working hard all day." Kurt lapped up the slight whine in Blaine's tone.

Kurt just buried his face further in to Blaine's chest and ignored him. And then it started. He felt Blaine's fingers come up to attack his torso as he immediately began to writhe away from the tickling.

"No," he shrieked, sounding exactly like his five year old niece, Dana.

"Move, Hummel."

"NO!"

There were now tears of laughter pouring down Kurt's face and then… disaster. In his writhing he had rolled straight in to something squishy and slippery.

He froze and slowly looked down at the bowl lodged under his hip. Then he screeched properly and Blaine stopped his teasing and sat up very quickly.

"What?"

Kurt dropped his head down on to the blanket in despair. "I've rolled my best Armani waistcoat in to guacamole," he said mournfully.

He could hear Blaine beside him snort with laughter and then try to cover it quickly with a cough. He raised his head a few inches of the ground to glare hard at Blaine. "This is NOT funny, Anderson."

Blaine got up quickly and went to get a cloth from the kitchen as Kurt sat up to survey the damage. He was twisting around at an awkward angle and began dabbing fruitlessly at the green smear that was now all over the back of his waistcoat and on the bottom of his shirt underneath where it had become untucked from his pants.

Blaine came back with a cloth but when he saw the full extent of the situation just shook his head gravely. "Kurt you got to take that all off. That's not going to help."

Kurt looked up at Blaine amused. "Take it all off? Everything?" he asked with a hopeful smile.

Blaine flushed a little red and rolled his eyes. "No. I just mean the top bits. I have some shirts in the closet in my bedroom," he pointed vaguely to the door in the corner. "You can change in there."

All at once, Kurt felt a shock of hurt go through him. He reasoned with himself that he was not being rejected by Blaine but he couldn't help feeling like that. He tried to swallow the lump in his gut that questioned whether Blaine found him attractive anymore. All of his insecurities about his experiences in LA came roaring to the forefront of his mind. He wanted desperately to ask Blaine if there was truth to his feelings but he quickly lost courage. He got up instead without another word and walked in to the bedroom to find a shirt.

In the bedroom Kurt tried to compose himself. He looked around as he was taking off his shirt and waistcoat. The room was very Blaine. There were books everywhere and a large stereo system in the corner. He remembered the stereo from college as it had an old school turn table on the top for records. There was even a whole bookshelf dedicated to just records and CDs. Although in the middle of one of the shelves stood an Ipod dock, so clearly Blaine had stepped in to the 21st century at some point within the last five years.

Kurt flinched when he noticed the bedspread on the bed. It was the one that he remembered Blaine's grandmother had quilted for him when he graduated high school. Kurt felt another pang of hurt go through him as he experienced a flood of memories about all the things they had got up to together under that bedspread. He found his hand reach out on its own accord to touch the familiar fabric and trace the patterns.

Then he pulled himself together and went over to the built in cupboard and began hunting for an acceptable shirt. It didn't take long to find an option that complemented his silk black pants, which had thankfully escaped the guacamole terror. As he was about to shut the cupboard door though, he stopped. His eye had caught on something very familiar stuffed at the back of the closet. He debated with himself about just walking away but then he decided that if Blaine was going to be angry with him for this, it was worth it.

He reached in a pulled out the guitar case. Blaine had not been kidding about not touching it for a while. It was a bit dusty and looking kind of battered, like maybe it had actually been kicked a few times.

He drew up his courage and walked back in to the living room with his soiled clothes in one hand and the guitar case in the other.

Blaine looked up at him, from where he was picking up the dishes off the blanket and smiled as he entered the room. Then his eyes focused on what was in his hands. Blaine sat back on his heels and stared. "Oh Kurt, no," was all he said.

Kurt put his soiled clothes down to one side and sat on the rug on the floor. He placed the guitar case carefully in front of him between himself and Blaine. He didn't say a word but slowly moved his hands to open the case.

Quickly Blaine put his own hand out to stop him and their eyes met in the silence. Kurt looked at Blaine's face and was sad to see hurt and longing mixed in his eyes.

"Please Blaine. It kills me that I had any part in your decision to stop playing. This instrument is such a huge part of you."

Blaine sat back and made no further attempt to stop Kurt from opening the case. Kurt decided to take his life in his hands and continue on, feeling that he had been given a small amount of tacit permission. He felt a swell of emotions when he saw the beautiful guitar that he remembered. Then he noticed that all the strings had been cut.

He looked up at Blaine in confusion. Blaine was resolutely not meeting his eyes but instead had returned to clearing the dishes. "Blaine? What happened here?"

Blaine just got up and walked with the dishes in to the kitchen. Kurt stood up and followed him. "Blaine…what the fuck?"

Blaine had turned away from him and was at the sink starting to wash up. It was only after a few minutes of silence that Kurt realized the other man's shoulders were shaking. He walked over to him slowly and placed a hand on his shoulder. Blaine stopped moving and just stood there, his sobs now audible.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked again.

Finally Blaine turned around and pulled him in to a hug, nestling his head in to Kurt's shoulder. "Why didn't you leave well alone? Why did you have to push? You always have to push."

Kurt felt a bit heartbroken by Blaine's words. He just held the other man tighter and let him sob in to his shirt. At least, he mused, Blaine was actually getting snot on his own shirt rather than on Kurt's Armani. He then kicked himself for being insensitive.

After a few minutes Blaine released him looking self conscious. "I haven't cried this much in years, this is becoming a bit humiliating."

Kurt smiled. "It seems to me that you might have needed to get some of those emotions out."

Blaine looked at him uncertainly but did not comment.

"So, come on Blaine… humor me. Why does your beloved guitar have broken strings? And why did you not fix them before relegating the instrument to the back of the closet? I really feel like I should kick your ass right now."

Blaine bit his lip and looked at him in resignation between the tear stains. "Can we just leave it that the guitar met an unfortunate accident with a pair of scissors and I never quite got around to replacing the strings?"

"Uh huh…By unfortunate accident… you mean…frustration at me? And this was your way of self destructing?" Kurt asked challengingly.

Blaine looked down at the floor. "God, you really don't let anything go once you start do you? You are like a terrier with a bone. Yes, OK, I was angry at you and I reacted stupidly and then never had the heart to fix the mess. Happy?"

"Not particularly… but glad we got to the bottom of it. So where do we buy guitar strings at 5pm on a Saturday?" Kurt asked.

Blaine groaned but his answer was cut short by a phone ringing in the apartment. He looked at Kurt with frustrated eyes but said nothing as he left the kitchen to hunt for the source of the noise.

Kurt went over to the sink to carry on with the washing up, wondering if he had overstepped the mark and pushed Blaine too far. However he reasoned that he was still hurting somewhat from Blaine's earlier rejection, so he figured that in some way this was payback.

He smiled to himself about the pettiness of his vindictive feelings and continued washing up until through the door he heard, "Yeah…OK. I'll come in."

His heart sank. This would leave more unresolved issues and he had kind of hoped that they were done with angst and frustration in their newly reformed relationship for a while. Now it seemed that he and Blaine would not be given the opportunity to sort out the difficulties that had arisen today. He decided then that there was not way that Blaine should be leaving to go anywhere now short of a dire emergency. He would talk him out of it and remind Blaine that it is his day off.

He turned a few minutes later, ready for combat, when Blaine reappeared at the door. "I have to go in to TH." And then Blaine spoke the only words that could possibly have stemmed Kurt's rant at the unfairness of life.

"It's Jack."

* * *

_Another cliffhanger! I am so proud. *jumps excitedly like a Labrador*_

_Please review : )_


	19. Chapter 19

_AN: I wasn't going to write this chapter this way but some of you lovely people have said how much you enjoy reading about Blaine in Social Worker mode and seeing a bit more of life in a home like Trevor's House. So I've written this pretty realistically from my own experiences. I don't know what you all will make of it – however I think it's about where Jack is at this point so..._

_Warnings: teens in extreme emotional crisis and the techniques needed to keep them safe._

* * *

Chapter 19

Blaine watched Kurt's face transform from sullen and annoyed to seriously concerned very quickly. "What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know the full details," Blaine answered honestly. "It's sounding like absolute chaos down there. Steve, the lead counselor on, called me for back up but he couldn't spare more than a few minutes. It seems like Jack got in to a fight with another student and the staff are struggling to calm either of them down. As a result, while the counselors deal with that, most of the other kids are currently unsupervised. They need some more hands on deck."

"Do you need help?"

Blaine looked at Kurt for a second. "This may get a bit crazy Kurt. We could of course use another pair of hands but I don't really know what we are walking in to."

"Blaine, I've seen crazy. Macy's at 6am on Black Friday, that's crazy. I'm sure I can handle a few stressed out teens."

Blaine was unsure about this but he didn't feel he had time to argue. "Fine. We need to leave now though. This could be a long night. If you need to borrow a sweater, grab one from my room and let's go."

Kurt dashed in to Blaine's bedroom and came out wearing a Dalton hoodie. Blaine did a double take. "What?" Kurt asked. "I'm feeling nostalgic."

* * *

They drove in silence. Neither one knew what to say to the other. Given the awkward point that their evening had been disrupted, it was hard to know where to start. Also Blaine's mind was distracted with the edge of panic that he had heard in Steve's voice. Steve was a big bear of a man and never seemed phased by anything. Whatever was happening had succeeded in shaking him up and that unsettled Blaine further.

He looked over at Kurt while he was driving but Kurt was staring out of his window in deep thought. He looked a little anxious but he also had his "Don't mess with me" face on. Blaine thought this was probably a good shield to keep up tonight as he had no idea what they were going to find at TH.

The first thing Blaine noticed on entering the front hall was how eerily quiet the building was for a Saturday evening. There was no one around and no noise coming from the hallways, which considering that it was now about 7pm seemed very unusual. Blaine decided to check on the girls' floor first to get an idea of what was going on.

He led Kurt back to the doorway that led to the girls' floor. The floor was very quiet. He could hear some murmurings further down the hall and led Kurt to the TV Room at the back. Outside the door they bumped in to Melissa, the counselor who had helped them take the kids to the shopping mall. She was holding a walkie and sitting against a wall outside of the room monitoring the back stairwell and the hallway.

"Hi guys," she said quietly. "I'm so glad Steve got a hold of you Blaine."

"Where are the girls?" Blaine asked.

Melissa indicated with one hand and Blaine and Kurt peeked through the gap in the door. Most of the girls were sprawled over one another on various sofas, watching a Friends' episode. A few had broken away from the group and were sitting at a table in the back doing art stuff instead. Kurt mouthed to Blaine, "They are so quiet." Blaine nodded. It was a huge shift from the usual noisy chatty chaos that normally pours out of the girls' floor.

He turned to Melissa. "Are you on your own?"

"No, Lindsay is in the room. I think she's keeping an eye on the popcorn. We've also ordered pizza."

"Good idea. So you are all set?"

"Yeah. We've got them covered. The girls saw what happened and they are laying low. They're doing great. We are on episode three of the Friends' marathon so we should be good for a few hours. I'll call on the radio if we need anything."

Blaine nodded. "OK. What happened? Do you know?"

Melissa shook her head. "I don't know much. It started at dinner in the dining room. Jack suddenly stood up and started screaming at Mike. Mike got up to shout back and then Jack threw a pitcher of water at him. We got them separated then and Jack bolted upstairs but I think Mike went after him again a bit later and it escalated from there. You know what Mike's temper is like once it gets going. I don't really know anything else."

"OK. We'll head up now. Call if you need anything."

"Thanks Blaine and good luck."

Blaine looked at Kurt who was looking a little shell shocked. "I don't understand," he started. "Why would Jack and Mike go at each other? They seem to get on just fine."

Blaine didn't have an answer, but he didn't like what he had heard so far.

* * *

As they made their way up the back stairwell the noise levels steadily rose. Blaine could hear shouting specifically from one voice. He turned to Kurt and gave him a look that was meant to communicate calmed reassurance but from the scared look he got back, he was not sure that he had succeeded.

He steadied himself and opened the door. Immediately the noise hit him like a brick wall as he and Kurt stepped on to the boys' floor. There were kids all over the place, peering out of their rooms, chatting to each other, some just watching scared. He could here Mike's voice clearly screaming at a counselor to get out of his way. He looked over at Mike's room and saw three staff members blockading the doorway and then a furious Mike behind then doing his best to force his way through. There was no sign of Jack.

Mike saw Blaine immediately. "BLAINE, TELL THESE FUCKERS TO LET ME GO BEFORE I PUNCH THEM."

Blaine ignored Mike for a second and turned to Kurt. "Kurt, I need you to get some of these other boys off the floor." He fiddled with his keychain and handed Kurt a large silver key from it. This is for the door to the gym on the school side. Take whoever is willing with you and go to the gym. They know where the basketballs are. This key should also open the equipment locker." He looked around him quickly and grabbed something off the table beside him. "Here is a walkie. I'll find one too. When you are over there check in every 15 minutes and tell me that you guys are doing OK. I will send another counselor to help you as soon as I can free someone up to go."

To his credit, Kurt didn't even seem to flinch at the prospect of suddenly becoming a gym teacher. He just nodded and walked over to some of the boys he knew by name and started rounding up a group. Blaine turned back to Mike who was currently looking like he was ready to blow.

"Michael, you need to calm down now. We are not going to let you out of your room until you are calm."

Mike looked mutinous. "FUCK YOU. I'll force my way out if I have to."

Blaine looked at him again and said in a low measured voice. "Michael, if you hurt anyone tonight at all. I personally will call the police and have you arrested for assault."

Mike suddenly took a step back from the staff line and looked at Blaine in shock.

"You wouldn't dare," he challenged.

Blaine met his eyes steadily. "I have done it before Mike and I will do it again. Now I suggest you step away. Shut your door for a few minutes and take a breath."

Mike eyeballed him for a minute and Blaine just held his glare. Then finally Mike took a step back in to his room and swung the door shut as hard as he could. The three counselors, thankfully had all preemptively taken a step back in to the hallway so the door missed them. One of them, Dan, turned to Blaine and rolled his eyes, then he put on a false smile knowing full well that at least some of the boys were still watching him.

"Thanks for coming Blaine. It's so nice to see you here on a Saturday night," he said with false chipperness and more than a hint of frustrated sarcasm.

Blaine smiled genuinely back at him. "Glad to help."

He turned back to the corridor and saw Kurt leading a group of eight boys off the floor. Kurt caught his eye and they exchanged a glance of shared embattled amusement.

Blaine turned back to Dan. "If Mike's going to be in his room calming down for the next little bit, can we leave two staff members outside his door, and then can one of you accompany Kurt and the other boys to the gym?"

"Sure thing. We just didn't have the manpower to get that together before."

"No. It's fine. I completely understand. Do you know where I can get a walkie so I'm looped in to you guys?"

"Here, take mine. I think there is another one in the staff room."

"Thanks. Right where's Steve?"

He and two other counselors are with Jack. I think they are in the larger therapy room. We had to get Jack off the floor as we were actually worried that Mike was seriously going to hurt him."

"OK." Blaine turned to the few remaining boys on the floor who had chosen not to go to the gym. "Gentlemen, here is the deal. If you are staying on the floor then I want you to stay in your rooms. Do not give these counselors any grief. If you need anything, sort yourselves out for a few hours. Understood?"

"Yes, Blaine," came the response from the five boys left.

Dwayne piped up, "Hey Blaine. Is it OK if we all actually take our laptops to the Rec. Room and network them together for Warhammer?"

"Perfect," he said, knowing they wouldn't hear a squeak from the boys for hours after that. "Great idea. We'll get you guys some pizza as well."

"Yes!" came back the excited response from all the boys and they each vanished in to their rooms to get their equipment together.

Blaine looked at Dan, who laughed. "Awesome. Let's hope things start to settle now. I'll head over to the gym myself and support Kurt."

Blaine nodded and then turned on his walkie. "Can all staff confirm location, headcount and status in to the radios please." He immediately began getting the familiar rote and reassured himself that everyone was OK. His heart did a little bounce of pride when he heard Kurt's voice from the gym.

Last, he heard Steve. "Blaine, can you come up to the larger therapy room as soon as possible please?"

"On my way."

* * *

Blaine drew in a deep breath when he entered the large therapy room. Jack was face down on the floor struggling hard with three male counselors holding him in a physical restraint. Jack's face was covered in tears and he was red and sweaty from the fight that he was putting up.

Blaine quickly assessed the counselors' holds and was satisfied that Jack was not being hurt or mistreated in any way. He, of course, was also trained in restraint techniques and knew from training and the frequent practice that the staff did with each other that this hold while effective, felt a lot like an enforced hug. It was actually pretty comfortable once the kid relaxed. But Jack was not relaxing… he was fighting with everything he had.

The weird thing about that though was that the room was silent. Steve was the counselor in the lead position on the restraint which meant that he was the one holding Jack's upper arms to his sides and was therefore closest to his head. This meant that he was the only staff member who should be speaking to the kid. Now, Steve looked up at Blaine and said, "I think you should switch in. It's been about half an hour and he is not hearing us anymore. We can't get him to calm at all."

Blaine nodded and moved in to the top to take Steve's place in a well practiced maneuver.

"Hey Jack," he said quietly, just letting the kid know he was there.

Jack started to struggle harder and then let out a gut wrenching "NO!"

Blaine held on tighter ensuring that he had a good hold, without hurting Jack.

"Jack, we are not trying to hurt you. I just need you to calm down buddy."

"NOT YOU… PLEASE NOT YOU!"

Blaine felt a stab in his chest as he realized that they were unwittingly triggering Jack's fear, trauma and memories by holding him down.

"Jack, listen to me. You are safe. I am not going to let anything happen to you but you have to stop struggling so we can let you go."

Jack tried to buck his head back in to Blaine. Blaine dropped his head low on to Jack's back to avoid the headbutt. He realized that Jack had not idea what he was doing. He just wanted Blaine off of him.

Blaine turned to Steve who was now pinning Jack's lower arms to his side and restricting his lower back. "Do we have to hold him?" Blaine asked quietly.

Steve looked a bit defeated. "When we got him up here, he tried to jump out of the window. That's why we held him in the first place."

Blaine closed his eyes and then turned back to Jack. "Buddy, I need you to be safe right now. Jack, you have to calm down."

Jack continued to struggle with everything he had and the men just held on grimly with everything they had. The room was filled once again with the unearthly silence given the struggle that was taking place on the floor. The only sounds in the room were Jack's harsh breathing from his exertions and Blaine's occasional attempts to anchor him to reality by repeating calming words and phrases to him.

Slowly after a further 20 minutes, Jack began to slow his movements. Blaine knew that total exhaustion had taken over.

After another ten minutes of half hearted struggle, Jack lay still and just breathed deeply in to the carpet on the floor. Blaine turned to Steve and signaled to him to release his hold on Jack. This left Blaine and one other counselor, Mark, who was holding Jack's hands just above the wrist and leaning over his legs to prevent Jack from kicking up.

Blaine was relieved to see that Jack did not start struggling once the hold lessened but continued to lie quietly. He nodded to Mark, who slowly released Jack's hands and moved off of his legs leaving Blaine alone still holding Jack's shoulders. When Jack continued to lay still, Blaine gentled his hold in to more of a hug and said, "I'm going to let you go in a minute Jack. I want you to stay laying down, still and quiet. If you show that you are completely calm then I will ask Mark and Jeff to leave the room and then you, Steve and I can just chill until you are ready to talk. OK?"

"OK." Blaine was relieved to have had even that answer out of Jack.

Blaine moved up off him and sat next to him on the floor. He slowly placed one hand on Jack's shoulder and when Jack did not flinch from the touch, he started to rub soothing circles in to his shoulder blade. After a couple of minutes of calm, Blaine nodded to Mark and Jeff to leave the room. He and Steve shared a deeply concerned look. Jack had never needed to be held before and Blaine knew the staff only used it as a last resort if the child was in serious danger of hurting themselves or someone else. It was also really unusual for a restraint to last that long.

Jack continued to lie quietly on the floor but moved his arms up under his head and started to cry once again. Blaine and Steve just sat in silence with him, letting him get his emotions out and Blaine maintained physical contact with him as Jack appeared to be finding it soothing.

After another five minutes, Blaine asked Jack if he wanted to move to his office. He hoped that the small size and familiarity of the room would provide a better feeling of safety and containment for the boy. Jack nodded silently and slowly Blaine and Steve helped Jack to stand up and then accompanied him out of the room one on each side of him in case Jack showed any further signs of running or wanting to hurt himself.

Jack walked calmly to Blaine's office, just a few doors down the hall, and threw himself on the couch, curled up in a fetal position. Blaine found a large fluffy blanket that he kept for just this kind of comfort and put it around Jack. He also found some water and offered Jack a large cup that he gulped down quickly. Jack pulled a cushion from the couch under his head and burrowed down deep in to the blanket.

Blaine walked over to check that the small window in the room was locked and that there was nothing unsafe in his office, and then he turned out the light and went to sit with Steve in the hall leaving the door ajar, so he could see Jack at all times. Jack's movements stilled completely and Blaine knew that he had fallen asleep, exhausted.

Blaine did a quick radio check of all staff and kids and found that everyone was OK, the pizza had arrived and Mike was still in his room, playing loud music but otherwise fine and currently talking to a counselor. Blaine leaned his head back against the wall in relief and looked at Steve.

"What the hell happened?" he asked quietly.

Steve just shook his head. "I have no idea," he said. "All I know is this. Mike and Jack were hanging out together this afternoon. Jack was in Mike's room and I think they were messing around with guitars. We had stopped in a few times to check on them and ask them to keep it down, but they were having a great time, a full on jam session.

'The first I noticed something weird was when the boys came down for dinner. Jack looked pale and out of sorts. He sat in a different spot from usual and it wasn't near Mike. I thought I would check in with him after dinner but then all hell broke loose. I was helping one of the other kids and so I don't know who said what first, but the next thing I know, Jack is standing up in the dining room screaming at Mike to leave him alone. Mike looked quite shocked but stood up too and then Jack picked up the table pitcher and threw not just the water but the pitcher at him.

'Honestly, my first reaction was to secure Mike, knowing how quickly he can fly off the handle, so I grabbed him. Jack took off out of the dining hall and up to the boys' floor. Several counselors went up after him. We got Mike out of the dining hall and he seemed to have calmed down some so I let him go upstairs, thinking I would sit them both down and talk about it.

'When we got to the floor though, Mike charged at Jack who went for him back. They were so angry and just full on fighting. Both got a few good whacks in before we managed to separate them. Just because Jack is smaller, we escorted him off the floor and got him to the therapy room. That's when I left to make the call to you but when I came back in Mark and Jeff were pulling Jack away from the window that he had managed to get open. Blaine, it was awful, he was fighting us so hard and begging us to let him jump. I've never seen anything like it. I made the decision to take him to the floor and he was in the state you saw for a full half hour before you arrived. The poor kid. I just hope we didn't make anything worse, but I honestly don't think we had any other choice."

Blaine nodded. "No, you didn't have any other choice. You had to keep him safe. I just wish he had left us another option rather than three men on top of him, holding him. I'm sure that's why he freaked out so much and why he panicked when he realized I was there too. God…I wish I knew what had happened to him before."

Steve nodded. "Let's hope this is rock bottom though. I don't ever want to have to restrain him again. That was horrible as it was clear that we were just making things worse."

Blaine sighed and glanced in to the doorway. He drew comfort from seeing Jack so completely asleep. At least he was safe for the moment.

"Steve, I've got this. He'll probably sleep for a few hours. If he wakes up, I'll radio for support."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Go check in on Mike will you? I know he expresses himself differently but the poor kid looked totally shaken up by everything too."

"Will do. They are both good boys. It must be terrifying for them both that things got this bad. See you later."

Blaine nodded goodbye to him and then settled himself on the floor of the hallway. He did not want to scare Jack any more than necessary by sitting in a room with him in the dark. This way he also felt that if he was needed, staff and residents would be able to find him more easily.

He settled in for a long wait.

* * *

_AN: That was pretty therapeutic to write. How was it to read?_

_Please review._


	20. Chapter 20

_AN: __Thank you, lovelies, for all your amazing reviews. I've been really touched by them. And over 200...really? I'm completely stunned. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you._

_So__ (finally!) here is Jack's backstory and it comes with SERIOUS WARNINGS. It discusses grooming from a sexual predator and nonconsensual sex. If you don't want to read it, the first half of the chapter is pretty light and then it becomes obvious once his story starts so please stop reading then. _

_If people request it I will post a short summary in the AN of the next chapter so you don't get lost._

_Warnings: discussion of historic nonconsensual sex – nothing majorly graphic - and a brief minor incident of self harm__._

* * *

Chapter 20

Kurt was relieved when Dan showed up to help him in the gym. Not that the boys had been causing him any trouble, but more because he was scared one of them was actually going to ask him to join in the game and he knew that would be humiliating. Dan on the other hand, was clearly at ease with a basketball and soon had a decent game running back and forth, leaving Kurt to be "umpire". Not that Kurt knew the rules enough to umpire – a minor point that the boys quickly realized and seemed endlessly amused by.

Over the radio at about 8pm, Kurt heard a tired sounding Blaine call out for another head count. Previously it had been Steve, so Kurt hoped this meant that things had finally settled down. Kurt gave the gym status and then announced to the group that there was pizza being offered, so the tired and sweaty boys packed in the game and headed happily back to the dorms.

Dan shot Kurt a grateful smile and patted him on the back. "It was really nice of you and Blaine to give up your Saturday night to come in and help. We really do appreciate it."

"No problem." Kurt wondered if he should dispel the unspoken insinuation that he and Blaine were an item. He realized that anything he said to dissuade from this notion would just lead to awkward questions about what he was doing in TH on a Saturday night and he just thought it was easiest to let the thought run.

When they got the boys to the dorm, Kurt realized that there were a lot more hands on deck and the boys appeared to be well looked after. Mike's door was still shut, but Kurt thought he could hear voices behind it so he assumed someone was working through things with him. He looked around for Jack and Blaine but did not see them.

He approached one of the other counselors and was brought up to speed. This was how he found himself getting lost in the warren of passages leading off the boys' floor, trying to find Blaine with a stack of pizza slices in his hand.

He eventually found Blaine, sitting with his head back against a wall, eyes shut, looking thoroughly done in. Kurt had a lot of sympathy for him. It had certainly been a rollercoaster of a 24 hours and it didn't look like it was ending anytime soon.

He sat down opposite Blaine and nudged his foot. "Hey," he was greeted with a sleepy smile.

"Hey, you got food. You absolutely rock!"

Kurt laughed. "Is he still out for the count?"

Blaine glanced in to his office and then nodded. "I think it will be a while. It was all pretty intense and I was only around for half of it." He munched on a slice of pizza and closed his eyes in bliss.

"Thanks so much for this…So how was the gym?"

"It brought back some crazy memories of cheerleading… but it was good. Dan came and helped so I just sat there and provided moral support."

"Oh, man, I should have told Dan to hand you some pom-poms. What a wasted opportunity!"

Kurt laughed and muttered a quiet "fuck you" under his breath that Blaine totally received and enjoyed.

Together they sat making idle chit chat waiting for Jack to resurface.

* * *

About an hour later, they heard stirring in Blaine's office and Jack's head appeared soon after at the door. He looked totally confused.

"What am I doing here? And what are you doing here?" he asked.

Blaine looked up at him with a friendly grin. "Pizza?" he held out two slices.

Kurt found himself laughing at the totally bemused expression on Jack's face as he tried to compute what was happening. Jack came out in to the hallway and sat down with them and gratefully took the paper plate with two slices left on it. He kept looking between Blaine and Kurt while chewing his way through the first slice.

"OK…" he finally broke. "I vaguely remember you being here," he turned to Blaine, "but why are you here on a Saturday night?" he asked Kurt.

Kurt exchanged an amused look with Blaine. "I was hanging out with Blaine when he got the call asking for him to come in."

"So you guys are together?" he looked at Blaine with an amused grin. "Dude, that's awesome."

Blaine flushed red and Kurt laughed out loud.

"Jack, this is so none of your business," Blaine commented.

"Oh hell no," came Jack's response. "You know everything about me. I mean let's not even pretend that I am getting out of this mess tonight without spilling my guts again to you. You owe me this, dude. It's only fair."

Kurt bit his lip in amusement as he watched Blaine fix a stern glare at Jack. "Sorry buddy. That's not how things work. Kurt is a friend. We were hanging out today. Steve called to say that you and Mike were having difficulties and asked if I would help. Kurt cares about both you and Mike and so he asked if he could come to help too. The End."

"Yeah. Nice try. I don't believe you. I think you are totally fucking each other but whatever." Jack returned to munching on his pizza slice and Kurt shot a very amused glance to Blaine, who just shrugged back and let it go. It wasn't as if Jack was entirely wrong, he just wasn't entirely right either but certainly neither one of them were going to explain that to him.

Jack finished munching through the second slice of pizza and then stretched loudly.

"OK," he said. "I'm ready to talk."

Kurt was surprised at his willingness but Blaine didn't look at all surprised and stood up. "Come on," he said. "Let's go in to my office so we can all be a bit more comfortable. I can hardly feel my behind at this point."

It had seemed strange, if nice, to Kurt that the mood had been so light given everything that had happened. However, as soon as they entered Blaine's office Kurt saw Jack stiffen up and Kurt realized the ease he had shown outside had been a front. The atmosphere in the room changed drastically.

Jack returned to the sofa and sat on it curled up in a ball with the blanket wrapped around him. His face seemed relaxed but every now and then Kurt caught a glimmer of pure fear showing through the mask. Blaine sat at his desk and Kurt sat on a chair by the door.

"So," asked Blaine, "what happened between you and Mike?"

Jack just looked resignedly at Blaine. "Mike kissed me and I freaked out."

Kurt flinched at the bluntness and felt his eyes go round. He and Blaine had guessed that was what happened but he definitely had not been expecting Jack to be quite so forthcoming.

"OK," said Blaine, also looking a bit taken aback. "Why did you freak out?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders noncommittally and looked away. "Dunno. I wasn't expecting it. That's all."

"Huh. It was quite a big freak out… what happened at dinner?"

Kurt watches as Jack's whole body language began to transform from cocky and sure to scared. "I overreacted. He kept asking if I was OK and would not accept yes for an answer. I got mad and started shouting."

"Jack, he was right though. You weren't OK. Why did that kiss upset you so much?"

Jack looked at Blaine. Now his posture had totally collapsed in on itself and his arms were wrapped so tightly around his knees, it was like he was holding on for dear life.

"I really don't want to talk about this." His voice was agonizing.

Blaine's voice in response was so compassionate that Kurt felt himself well up in sympathy for both men.

"I understand, Jack. I know this is really hard for you, but there is a massive piece of your past that you are hiding and it literally almost killed you tonight."

Jack's eyes latched on to Blaine's in desperation. "I'm so scared."

Blaine moved off of his chair and knelt in front of Jack on the sofa with both his hands on Jack's arms. "I've got you buddy. I promise I will take everything that you need to tell me and I will be here for you when you are done."

Kurt watched as Jack dissolved in to tears. He felt tears of his own slipping down his face in response. Blaine, however, looked totally composed and strong. Kurt had no idea how he was maintaining that air of strength in the face of such raw emotion. Jack however, appeared to be drawing strength from Blaine now and slowly he began to sit up straighter on the sofa and gain control of his emotions.

Finally Jack drew in a deep breath and Blaine moved back to sit in his chair giving Jack some space. "OK. So it started on holiday last summer. I started getting texts from that guy Tom from the party. You know the one who encouraged me to play spin-the-bottle? He must have got my number from Trent. He was being really sweet. He didn't go to my high school so he didn't know about the videoing and what happened after that. I borrowed my Dad's laptop and started emailing him on facebook and telling him what had happened. I don't know, he just seemed really sympathetic and I was really glad to have someone to talk to who was not involved.

'When we got back from holiday there were a few more weeks of summer left and he started to ask me out. We went mostly to coffee shops and an ice cream parlor he knew. He was really sweet and understanding. He would hold me while I cried about Trent and not wanting to go back to school.

'He was my first kiss… like proper kiss, not spin the bottle, and it was really nice, just sweet and casual and I was totally blown away that a guy like him would be interested in someone like me."

Blaine interrupted for a second, "Jack, how old was he, do you know?"

Jack met his eyes and Kurt inwardly gasped. Jack's eyes looked haunted. He had never understood that expression before but he saw it now and he doubted he would ever forget it.

Blaine held steady and his face betrayed nothing. Jack continued to draw strength from that. "I don't know. He told me he was 17 but I think that was a lie. I don't think he was in school anymore. I didn't figure that out until later though."

Blaine nodded. "Sorry, go on."

Jack hesitated and began rhythmically rubbing the soft skin of his wrist hard in to the sofa arm. Kurt winced instinctively as the action was causing a rub burn and looked really painful. In one motion Blaine moved next to Jack and very gently took hold of his hand in a comforting gesture that prevented Jack from doing any more damage. Kurt doubted that Jack even realized what he was doing.

"One night Tom took me to a drive in movie. He got me in to the backseat and we were kissing a lot, and then he started to touch me." Jack looked up in to Blaine's eyes. "That had never happened before. It felt really good."

Blaine nodded understanding. "It's OK Jack. That's meant to feel good."

"I don't know though. Maybe if I had stopped him there then nothing else would have happened."

Kurt was beginning to feel nauseous. He didn't know if he would be able to physically stay in the room with the rest of the story. This was becoming overwhelming. He fixated on Blaine who was exuding total calmness and tried to draw strength from him too.

"Jack, you didn't do anything wrong, buddy." Blaine reassured him. "What happened next?"

"We fooled around. He touched me and got me undressed and did some other things to me. We didn't have sex though. At least not the real kind… not that night."

Kurt actually flinched. Blaine looked over at him in warning. Kurt covered the sudden movement quickly by smoothing his hair and then returned his body forcibly in to a nonchalant pose. He met Blaine's eyes though and Blaine glanced at the door letting him know that he should leave if he needed to. Kurt shook his head minutely. There was no way he was going to let Blaine go through this on his own, no matter how professional he was.

"Tell me about the next time Jack."

Jack visibly curled in to Blaine now, using his proximity almost like a blanket or a shield. There was very little bodily contact except the abused hand and wrist that Blaine still had a gentle hold of, but the contortion of Jack's body molded towards Blaine's as though soaking up the heat.

"It was a few days later. He had spent the days in between being really sweet and telling me that I was beautiful. I totally fell for it and thought that what we had was special. He would take me out in the car and we would fool around more. He taught me how to give a blow job and things like that. I guess I felt really grown up. I knew some friends at school were having sex with girls so I guess that made me think everything we were doing was pretty normal.

'Then that day, it was just before school started, he said he wanted to give me a treat to start my sophomore year right. He asked if I would go to a party with him at his friend's place. I thought it would be a high school party like the one I went to with Trent and so I agreed, but it wasn't.

'There were lots of older men there and I was really confused. Tom seemed to know everyone though and was really comfortable. He kept introducing me to different men and they asked me lots of questions about school and stuff. They seemed nice and they kept giving me drinks. I think one of the drinks was spiked because I only have flashes of memory after that. I woke up with Tom hours later in his car and I felt sick. My body hurt, like really hurt, and I had bruises and marks all over me.

'Tom drove me home and kissed me. He thanked me for making his night so special. He seemed really pleased and happy with me. I asked him what had happened and he got this really hurt look in his face, like he couldn't believe that I didn't remember and then he told me that I had given him the best gift that I could."

Jack breathed in really quickly and Blaine moved fast grabbing a trashcan as Jack emptied the contents of his stomach in to it. Blaine looked at Kurt but his eyes were dark. His face had the blank expression that made Kurt's insides ache. He wanted so much to grab Blaine in to his arms and hold him but he knew right now that Blaine had to stay strong for Jack. So he stayed put and Blaine held the trashcan while rubbing soothing circles in to Jack's back.

When Jack had finished vomiting, he looked at Blaine with desperate eyes. "I don't think that I lost my virginity to just one person Blaine." His eyes filled with tears as Blaine held him.

"I know, buddy. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

Blaine was struggling to juggle the trash can with his arms full of boy. Kurt moved to take the trash can from him and Blaine looked at him gratefully.

"I'll be right back," Kurt promised. He took the trash can out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom. He struggled to control his tears as he cleaned out the can and found a fresh liner. Taking some deep steadying breaths he grabbed a cup of water, and then hurried back to Blaine as quickly as possible. He definitely didn't want Blaine alone at this point.

When he entered the office again, Blaine was still holding Jack who was now sobbing in to his shoulder. Blaine just kept rubbing his hand up and down Jack's back attempting to soothe him.

When Jack's sobs subsided Blaine said to him, "We can stop there Jack. You've done really well. You don't need to go further if you don't want to."

Jack shook his head and released his hold on Blaine. "I can't stop now. Please don't make me stop. I'll have nightmares if I leave it there now."

Blaine nodded and said "We'll be here for you as long as it takes."

Jack breathed more easily and took the cup of water gratefully from Kurt. He swallowed the contents in a few gulps and seemed to settle himself down.

"I've never told anyone all of this before. It feels better getting it out."

Blaine nodded but didn't say anything. Kurt took his cue from that and sat quietly.

"So…um… yeah… Tom dropped me off home and it was really late, like 5 am. I got in to the house and my Dad was waiting for me in the kitchen. I must have looked a state because he went off at me, for being late and for worrying him. I don't know why I did it but I told him that I had been with Tom at a party and that I didn't care what he thought.

'He tried to ground me but I told him that I would go with Tom anyway, because I loved him and he understood me… or some shit like that… I don't remember, but my Dad was furious. He came at me to shake me and when he grabbed my shirt he ripped open some buttons. He saw the marks on my chest and looked disgusted. He asked what had happened and I told him that I had had sex with Tom. He threw me against the wall at that point but then seemed shocked by what he had done and just sent me to my room.

'I remember running to the bathroom and showering over and over. I lost count of how many times I washed but I was in the shower for hours. My skin was raw and it hurt but still I felt so dirty. I don't know why I didn't tell my Dad. I think I couldn't hurt him by telling him that I was in trouble. He always had too much to cope with since Mum died. I knew he struggled to look after the three of us and I didn't think he could cope with my drama. Also I guess a part of me wondered if maybe this is what gay sex is like. You know, maybe it's different from normal sex. Maybe guys do have sex in groups and maybe I was just showing my immaturity for being upset by that."

Kurt felt his mind reel. He knew vaguely that this was hitting very close to home but he clamped down on his own emotions really tightly, knowing that he would have to deal with them later. He focused on Jack for now although he didn't miss Blaine's almost involuntary glance towards him. He swallowed down the rising nausea in his throat and demanded his body be calm.

"What happened after that, Jack?"

"God I was so scared because I was in so much pain. I hurt, you know… down there… and there was some blood too." Jack flushed and looked at Blaine who nodded. "I called Tom in desperation and asked him if I should see a doctor but he calmed me down and told me that it was normal. He said he would come and see me the next day and we would do something fun together, my choice.'

'When he came the next day he was back to being sweet and understanding. He took me to the park and to get ice cream. He even took me to Six Flags later in the week and told me how much he loved me and wanted to make my holiday special. He kissed me and touched me some but he didn't have sex with me again at that point. He said he wanted to wait until I was ready…fucking bastard. When he talked about that night, it was as though it was just him and me and that we had had a great time. I wanted so desperately to believe him that I guess I kind of did.

'School started and things were bad at home. Dad was barely talking to me and it was just really uncomfortable. He looked like he was going to cry every time I went out with Tom or went to my room to take his call. I wish I believed that his sadness was because he didn't like Tom, but nights when I was home he would try to convince me that I could be straight and would constantly talk about girls in the neighborhood that I should ask out. When I would refuse he would get this look in his eye like I was letting him down somehow.

'Anyway finally I couldn't take it and I was telling Tom about it one night, it was kind of January time. He said that I could come and stay at his for a while if I wanted to. I guess I knew then that he was older, what 17 year old lives on their own? He told me that his parents were divorced and that his father owned the apartment but was away for most of the year on business. I didn't think much about it. Things were so horrible at home that I hated walking in the front door and I just believed that Tom would continue being sweet to me.

'The first night I moved in, he took me to his bed and we had sex. He was very caring and I guess that was when I began to realize just how wrong things were before. I was a bit sore in the morning but nothing like the level of pain from that first night and there was no blood. It seemed kind of nice.

'I was so naïve. I thought I was so grown up, living with my boyfriend. Then that weekend he asked me to give up my phone. I had been getting these abusive text messages on it and I thought they were coming from the soccer kids at school. I'm not sure now as they pretty much left me alone after the summer and the timing seems convenient. Anyway Tom persuaded me that he would look after my phone and answer it if any unknown number rang or any nasty texts came through. He made me think he was protecting me but actually I didn't realize how totally cut off I was.

'About a week later he started inviting friends to the flat, older men usually in twos and threes. He told me that he was teaching me about the gay lifestyle and would basically share me around. He called these nights "parties" and would always be super nice after them. He would act all paternal during the week, making sure I had my homework done and things so that there would be nothing that could draw attention to me at school. But Mr. Gibbs saw through it and kept asking all these questions.

'The shit really hit the fan when I told Tom once that Mr. Gibbs was encouraging me back in to theatre and didn't seem to believe me that everything was OK. Tom got really angry and I was scared. He told me that I needed to be more convincing and he started to become more controlling, expecting me home straight after school and demanding to know everything about my day. The sweetness was gone.

'Then the parties started getting rougher and I began having to take lots of time off school to recover from them. Tom didn't seem to care much, although he would look after me and nurse me back to health. He only did it because he was terrified that I might need a doctor which of course would have blown everything. I think he had also lost control of the men coming over. A lot of them were really rough with him too. About the only thing he successfully insisted on was that they wear condoms, thank god, but apart from that the evenings started turning in to free for alls and they were really scary.

'Looking back I don't know how I stayed that long but I didn't feel I had a choice. My father had not called me once to check up on me… at least that's what Tom said. I felt like I no longer existed to him. I didn't want to go in to foster care. Tom told me all sorts of scary stories about places like this and I thought that at least with him I was safe. Although, looking back I'm not sure what I thought he was protecting me from.

'Finally in May, he told me that he was short of money and that I was going to have to spend the weekend with some friends of his, in a place outside of the city. I finally snapped. I remember walking in to school that Friday morning totally out of it. I was so scared. I just found a quiet bathroom and curled up in one of the stalls. I didn't know what else to do. I knew that Mr. Gibbs would send me home to my Dad and that Tom would find me there. I couldn't bear to see the pain in my father's eyes when he found out the truth about what had been going on.

'It was crazy. I had nothing with me except my school bag and guitar, but this girl walked in to the bathroom and found me in the stall. When she asked if I was OK, I knew she was going to get a teacher and so I bolted and ran out of the school. That's how I ended up at Derek's house."

"How did you find that house?"

"I slept on the streets for a few nights and met some kids my age who were working on them, you know, as prostitutes. I got chatting to them a bit and they told me about the house and where to find it. Some of them were living there and turning tricks to pay the rent. I figured that I could probably make most of my rent through my guitar but if I had to turn the odd trick now and then to make ends meet, it would be OK."

Kurt noticed that Jack's voice was now back to detached and emotionless as it had been in the van when he talked about his stay at the squatters' house. It was a dramatic shift from the emotions that he had been expressing before.

"Jack, you talk about Derek in such an off hand way as though he was no big deal. How was Derek easier to deal with than Tom?" Blaine asked, in a very gentle voice.

Jack looked up at him in surprise as though he had never really thought about that before. "Dunno. I mean, Derek wanted payment and as long as I paid him I could get him off my back. He also had loads of us there so it was easy to keep a low profile. I mean that didn't always work, and there were a few times that he took more than I was willing to offer, but he wasn't in to group sex or anything hardcore. It wasn't like stuff I hadn't done before. Tom wanted everything and there were no limits with him."

"So it sounds like a control thing? With Derek for the most part you had a lot more control but with Tom you had none?"

"I guess. There were also other kids at the squat and we would watch each other's backs you know? I don't know… it was fun. It was kind of like this place, I guess… I mean without Derek and random people demanding sex. But I mean there was always someone to talk to and friends there to mess around with. You know, it wasn't all bad."

Kurt was horrified to realize that Jack was making a decent argument for the positive attributes of somewhere as terrifying as the squat. He felt his brain fry when he thought about all the things that Jack had been through in the last two years. He honestly did not know how the kid was still getting out of bed every morning.

Blaine spoke again. "Jack thank you for telling us all of this. I know that was hard but you are so brave. I am really impressed at how well you handled that impossible situation." Jack responded to the praise by burying himself deeper in to Blaine's arms.

Blaine continued. "I just have a few more questions I have to ask about tonight. It makes total sense to me now why you would get so upset by a kiss you were not expecting today. Can you help me understand though why you became so distressed that you wanted to jump out of a window?" Kurt stiffened.

"I didn't," Jack said quickly and sat up, pulling away from Blaine.

"Jack, you did," Blaine said quietly. "That's why you ended up being held on the floor tonight. Steve said you opened a window and were begging them to let you jump."

Jack looked devastated. "I don't really remember that. I remember Mike coming towards me and then things are patchy. I remember him hitting me and I think I got some hits back," he looked at Blaine who nodded in confirmation.

"I remember being practically carried up here… no not here. It was the bigger room wasn't it?" Again Blaine nodded. "I remember feeling out of control and so helpless and then…" Jack visibly paled and Blaine grabbed for the trash can again but Jack waved it away.

"Oh God… I remember men coming towards me trying to grab me. I remember thinking that I couldn't go back there again and then I saw the window and thought that was my only way out. I remember feeling desperate when they grabbed me. I was sure they were going to hurt me again. But it wasn't… I mean I knew them… I remember begging them not to hurt me here… but they held me down anyway." The tears started to fall properly again for both Jack and Kurt.

Jack turned fully in to Blaine's arms again and held on tight. "What really happened? I don't think I know."

Blaine held him tightly and said "Jack, when Mark and Jeff got you upstairs to the other room, I think you had a flashback. That's what happens when people have gone through the type of stress that you have been through. You felt so scared after the fight with Mike and you had a lot of adrenaline running through your body. That adrenaline rush seems to have kicked in a memory of some guys in a room where you were forced to do things you did not want to do. You confused those guys with Mark and Jeff, Steve too probably when he came in.'

'Jack, they had to hold you after you ran to the window as they had no other way of keeping you safe. Knowing everything now, it's not surprising that you fought as hard as you did. Buddy, you struggled for practically a whole hour while we tried to keep you safe. Do you remember that at all?"

Jack shook his head in to Blaine's shoulder. Then thickly, through tears, he said, "I have a memory of you being in the room with me and not wanting you there. I don't know if I didn't want you to hurt me or didn't want you to see me being hurt. It's really confusing. The next clear memory I have is waking up in your office."

"OK. That happens sometimes in really stressful flashbacks. You struggled in the restraint so hard that you physically wiped out. You'll probably feel pretty sore tomorrow, like you did a lot of exercise. That's why you slept so well this evening."

Jack nodded in to Blaine's shoulder but didn't say anything.

"So right now, Jack, I need to ask you, are you feeling like you want to hurt yourself?"

Jack shook his head no in to Blaine's shoulder.

"OK. Because of what happened today, you will need to be with a staff member one on one for the rest of the weekend."

Jack sat up really quickly and started shaking his head. "Blaine, I promise I'll be safe."

"Buddy, it's out of my hands. You scared us today, Jack. Everything got really frightening for a while. I trust you so I am not suggesting we go to the hospital, which I would have to do if I was worried you were going to try to hurt yourself, but I do need you to agree to this for me."

Jack looked scared and was still shaking his head.

"How about if I make sure that the one to one for the next day until Monday is a female counselor? And then when I come in on Monday, I'll be your one to one until Dr Blake can check you over?"

Jack visibly relaxed. "OK," he agreed. He looked more resigned than happy about the plan but he had lost the edge of hysteria.

"Blaine, I also don't want to deal with Mike just yet."

Blaine nodded in agreement. "OK so we'll deal with that on Monday too."

"OK."

They all sat in silence together for a few minutes and then Blaine looked at his watch. "It's one o'clock in the morning, buddy. How about we head back to the dorm and you can get a decent night's sleep?"

Jack reluctantly agreed and stood up. Together they walked to the dorm. Jack turned to Blaine one final time at his bedroom door, "You promise, a female staff and you'll be here on Monday?"

"I promise, Jack."

"OK, see you then. Goodnight Kurt."

"Night, Jack" both Blaine and Kurt responded.

* * *

The two men slept together at Blaine's apartment that night. There hadn't even been any conversation about it. Kurt was determined not to leave Blaine for both of their sakes and was ready to put up a fight if necessary but the issue never arose. Blaine just drove them both back to his place without a word being exchanged.

In the bedroom Blaine had handed Kurt a t-shirt and some sweatpants and the two men had just collapsed in to bed holding each other tightly. Emotions were too raw for both of them and exhaustion just took over. Kurt could feel the pull of sleep but he waited until he finally heard Blaine's breathing even out. His own mind was whirring with all sorts of unpleasant thoughts and images that he had no idea how to deal with.

He just hoped that he and Blaine were bonded tightly enough together to weather this emotional storm that they were currently stuck in. He wished it with all his heart and hung on to that thought as he finally allowed himself to drift in to sleep.

* * *

_AN: Phew! That was gut wrenching to write. It took about two weeks - in bits and pieces. _

_Please review._


	21. Chapter 21

_AN: So I know the last chapter was very tough. I started writing this fic as my own therapy for dealing with a number of the stories that the kids I worked with over the years had struggled with themselves. Poor Jack is unluckily getting a mash up of some of the worst of those stories combined. I totally understand that this may have been too much for some of you to choose to read so as promised, here's the summary:_

_Jack was befriended by Tom at the party he talks about in Chapter 13. Tom was a young man posing as a high school kid who gradually over the course of months seduced Jack away from all of his safety nets and used him to turn a profit. Tom lost control of his clients however and so Jack was exposed to increasingly frightening situations until finally he saved himself and ran away. He was befriended by some other kids on the street who introduced him to the squat house that was talked about in Chapter 16. _

_Finally it became clear that Jack had not actually become suicidal and the incident with the window in Chapter 19 was actually a triggered PTSD flashback. Once he was out of the flashback he was more back to himself and clear with Blaine that he had no intention of hurting himself. Blaine put him on one to one supervision to be safe but you know… I think Jack will be OK. ; ) _

_So, good news loyal readers! At least I hope this is good news… I mentioned earlier that I thought this would be about 25 chapters. I think now that I have underestimated… not sure by how much, but I think it will be nearer 30. _

_Even better news…this is not due to more angst! Although there is definitely some more coming down the pipeline, it is all part of the healing process. I just realized that I want to focus much more on the healing as I have well and truly decimated these fine chaps! It will be very satisfying to stick them all back together._

_Let the healing continue… with fluff in the chapter (mostly!)…_

* * *

Chapter 21

Blaine woke up with a stinking headache. He groaned and rolled over trying to remember what day of the week it was. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. Then he remembered, Sunday and judging by the bright light coming through his skylight, sometime near the middle of the day. In his morning bleariness he shifted around under the covers trying to get in to a comfortable position to doze for a while. His head moved on to the cool pillow on the other side of the bed and he suddenly jumped at a crunch of paper under his cheek.

Sitting up he picked up a note:

B

I've gone home to get showered and changed.

Will be back by 12 pm with breakfast.

Kx

Blaine felt a leap in his heart. Kurt and breakfast. That sounded perfect.

He looked blearily over to his clock and realized he had about 20 minutes. He contemplated getting up and dressed but settled instead for reaching for his phone to check in with TH.

During the middle of his call, he heard a familiar whistle and a knock on his bedroom door. Kurt's head appeared tentatively around the edge and Blaine smiled a beaming smile, beckoning him to come in, without breaking the flow of his phone conversation.

Kurt remade the side of the bed that Blaine was not currently occupying and then sat cross legged on the top of it and began to unpack the breakfast bag. Blaine smiled at the domesticity of the scene and felt all gooey inside that he was back with someone who cared enough about him to look after him in this way.

He finished the call to TH and then leaned over to kiss Kurt soundly on the mouth.

"Well, that's a better reception than I was expecting," Kurt replied.

Blaine looked at him quizzically while taking the smeared bagel that Kurt held out to him.

"No, I guess, I wondered if I should just go home," Kurt explained. "I didn't know if you were getting sick of me yet and just wanted your space to process last night."

Blaine shook his head feeling amused. "Last night will still be there tomorrow. To wake up to breakfast in bed and you? Kurt, come on, I know it's been a bumpy ride the last few days but if anything I think we've established that we are worth sorting through the bumps. I did not sob my heart out to you and go through the trauma of Friday night to then want you gone by Sunday… even if you do insist on asking awkward questions and digging through my cupboard for buried skeletons."

Kurt blushed and then leaned over to kiss Blaine again, acknowledging the teasing nature of the last comment.

"So how are things at the hyena den?"

Blaine smiled. "Holding together. Jack is still in bed and they are planning on letting him sleep and chill today. Mike is back to decent spirits and I think is going out with some other kids so they can get some distance between them. Everyone else is fine. So you and I, Mr Hummel, have a gorgeous winter day to spend together for just us."

Kurt smiled and snuggled down in to the mound of comforter that still covered Blaine.

"Or we could just stay in," he muttered.

Blaine looked at him with a knowing smile and bit his lip. "OK. Let's discuss that after I have had some coffee and a shower."

Kurt nodded and went over to the stereo to put on some background music.

* * *

About half an hour later, Blaine was sad to admit that his headache was not getting better. He had hoped that with coffee and aspirin that things would improve but he now had the metallic taste in the back of his mouth and he knew that he was headed for a migraine. He looked in to the bathroom mirror in defeat. Absolutely, not the way that he wanted to spend a day with Kurt.

He sighed heavily and put on his most comfortable sweats and a t-shirt. He had also found a nice pair of woolly socks. He made his way back to the bedroom feeling sad that he would have to let Kurt down but the way the pain was building he knew he would have no choice.

Kurt looked up and smiled at him when he came in to the room. Blaine went over to the man on the bed and lay down beside him snuggling apologetically.

"Kurt, I'm so sorry. I have the beginning of a migraine starting. I am going to have to dose up on meds and go back to bed. I can't think of a sadder way to waste today but I'll be good for nothing in about half an hour."

Kurt looked a little disappointed but then his chin jutted out in the determined way he had. "I remember all about your stress migraines Blaine. I'll stay and look after you."

Blaine looked up at Kurt with an unsure glance. "I'm going to be really poor company…"

"Oh please…I remember exactly how snugly you get when you sick. It'll be fun – at least for me. Besides, you have been looking after everyone else for far too long. Let me do this for you."

Blaine groaned quietly in defeat and then buried his head in to his pillow, waving a hand in surrender.

Kurt immediately jumped up and began shutting the blinds in the room and he turned off the radio, knowing how sensitive Blaine would become to noise and light in a few hours. He found Blaine's migraine medications by his bed as well and went to make a pot of peppermint tea for him.

Blaine just burrowed under the covers once more and allowed himself to be lulled by the happy sounds of someone who loved him looking after him. Before he knew it he was asleep.

* * *

He woke up several hours later to a warm body snuggled up next to him on the bed. His head felt like it was going to split open and the pain was lancing in to one eye. He closed his eyes again and moaned out loud. He felt Kurt shift quickly next to him and he was pulled up physically on to Kurt's body with his head and chest resting on Kurt's torso.

Then he felt the blissful fingers start to rub in to his head in a gentle but powerful head massage. Blaine closed his eyes in contentment and moaned in to Kurt's stomach. He felt a small vibration in the skin under his lips when Kurt laughed in response to the sounds he was making.

Blaine just nuzzled his nose in to Kurt's stomach in response and breathed the smell of the man in deeply. This was heaven, even with the lancing pain in his head. He felt Kurt's hands move down his head and begin to work on the tight muscles of his neck and shoulders.

After a few minutes, he heard Kurt whisper, "You are really tense. I want to give you a proper massage. I think it will help your head. Are you up for that?"

Blaine considered the throbbing pain but then also the sheer joy of having Kurt's hands in his hair. He grunted a vague agreement and that appeared to be enough. Kurt gently manoeuvred out from under him and just as Blaine began to whimper at the loss of his body pillow, Kurt returned with a large fluffy towel that he put on the bed.

"Will you take your shirt off for me?" Kurt asked quietly.

Blaine hesitated at the effort that was going to take, but then weighed that against having hands all over him making him feel good. He proceeded to lift himself up off the bed just enough to get his t-shirt up and off and then he settled himself back down on the towel that Kurt steered him on to. That was about as much movement as he was able to manage and he moved his arms up to form a pillow for his head before closing his eyes once more in relief.

"You are so beautiful," he heard Kurt breathe. "God Blaine, you are absolutely gorgeous."

Blaine smiled in to his arms but didn't say anything.

Then he heard a plastic lid pop open and the smell of lavender wafted over him. "Is this OK? The smell's not turning your stomach or anything?" Kurt asked quietly.

"It's fine," Blaine whispered back.

"Good. I went out and got it especially while you were asleep."

Blaine felt the bed dip as Kurt straddled his thighs and slowly drizzled some lavender oil on his back. Then Blaine was transported in to absolute heaven when Kurt's hands began to move in slow, loving ways all over his back, shoulders and in to his neck.

Blaine sighed in complete bliss. He had no idea where Kurt learnt those skills but he had never been more grateful for anything in his life. He let his mind just float, feeling himself rising above the pain.

Slowly he became aware that Kurt was also kissing the skin along his spine and shoulder blades. He moaned in to the touches and felt a warm fuzz grow all around him. It felt so good to be touched by someone who knew him. There was nothing sexual in the touch. He was in no fit state to deal with that right now, what with his head being split in two, but he really appreciated the deep massage soothed by loving kisses. He thought he could definitely get used to this type of attention.

Bit by bit he felt himself sliding back in to a dreamless sleep.

* * *

He woke up a few hours later under his grandmother's quilt with his head pillowed back on Kurt's stomach. He scrunched up his eyes and breathed in deeply before flipping on to his back and stretching like a cat. Wow…that felt so much better.

He opened his eyes and tilted his head back to look at Kurt upside down.

"Hi!"

Kurt was looking at him with a cute grin. He leaned down and kissed Blaine's upside down mouth.

"Hi, yourself. Feeling better?"

"Much! Thanks to your fabulous hands. Where did you learn to do that?"

Kurt smiled and moved around on the bed so that he was now sprawled beside Blaine and staring down at him the right way up.

"I took a class or two while I was between gigs in L.A. You never know when you might need a second career."

"Oh, really?" Blaine didn't believe him for a second and he had it written all over his face.

"Well… OK, maybe not a second career. Actually I read somewhere that it was good for all kinds of stuff… like migraines… and I thought it might come in useful someday."

Kurt didn't quite meet Blaine's eyes and it was that gesture more than anything else that made Blaine raise himself up on his elbows and look at Kurt in the eyes. His breath caught in his throat as his brain whirred at the implications of that simple statement.

"Hold on… you did that for me… even when you were in L.A?"

"Well, not just for you. I just thought it might come in useful someday…"

"You're lying!" Blaine looked at him with wide eyes and the beginnings of a massive grin on his face. "Kurt Hummel, did you just admit to one of the most romantic things I have ever heard of?"

"Shut up," said Kurt bashfully. "It was an insane lost week of nostalgia. I was missing you."

Blaine just stared at him in shock before launching himself on Kurt and pushing him back in to the comforter. He stared down at the beautiful man below him and gently brushed the hair of his forehead.

"I really love you, you know."

Kurt smiled up at him and he lost himself in Kurt's eyes for a minute. Then he bent down to kiss him slowly and tenderly. Kurt moved his hand up in to Blaine's hair and started to play with his curls pulling Blaine's mouth deeper in, their tongues meeting, touching and playing with each other.

Blaine sighed deeply in pure satisfaction. He felt Kurt's hand move further down his still naked back and his brain began to short circuit. He moaned in to Kurt's mouth and shifted so that he was entirely on Kurt. He could feel the heat beginning to build in his body as he ground his hips down in to the gorgeous creature below him.

He felt Kurt stop moving below him.

He broke away and looked at him confused. "What's wrong?"

Kurt closed his eyes and turned his head away. Blaine moved quickly off him.

"Kurt?"

"God… nothing's wrong. You have no idea how much I want this. I just don't want it to be false."

"How do you mean, false?"

"No…I just…after what happened last time… I don't want to hide anything from you. I want you to know everything before we do this so you can decide if you really want me in that way."

"Kurt…love… of course I want…"

"Blaine, please," Kurt interrupted, looking at him pleadingly. "I don't want to worry anymore that you are going to hate me when you hear everything. Please…let me talk and if when I am done, you still want me then I'm yours."

Blaine sat back in shock. He suddenly felt cold and scared. He could see that Kurt was absolutely serious about this. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Then he reached over to Kurt's chin, gently turning his face towards him.

"Kurt…" he was lost for words. What could he possibly say? Everything was empty promises until Kurt had said his piece.

Instead he just leaned forward and kissed him deeply. Kurt melted in to the kiss and Blaine tried to communicate all his love, acceptance and support to the other man. When they broke the kiss they just sat touching foreheads together, breathing each other's breath.

"OK," Blaine finally agreed although he wondered if he was signing the death warrant on their relationship. "OK."

* * *

_AN: A shorter chapter but it needed to end there. So looking forward to the next chapter..._

_Please review._


	22. Chapter 22

_AN: Here it is finally. This took a long time to get right. I hope you enjoy it._

_Angst and SMUT – a great combination. : )_

* * *

Chapter 22

Kurt had had an agonising day, which was ironic considering Blaine was the one with the migraine. Somehow hours spent watching the man sleep, no matter how cute he was when he snuggled deep in to Kurt, just left far too much thinking time. Kurt had tried to distract himself with reading but it was hard to do in the dim light. He contemplated messing around on Blaine's laptop but he really didn't want to wake him up for the password. He considered watching TV but the only TV was in the living room and Kurt really did not want to stop being Blaine's body pillow. So instead, he was stuck staring at the ceiling with his brain going in to over drive. He had to admit that he was driving himself crazy.

And last night had been some of the most stressful few hours of his life. He had never seen anyone go through the level of emotional trauma that Jack exhibited. He had too many thoughts going around in his head and his brain kept kicking up Jack's phrase "maybe this is what gay sex is like". Of course Kurt hadn't been tricked in to having sex. Everything he had done had been consensual. But now that he was out of the craziness of the scene that he had found in L.A. and he was more than a little ashamed of the risks he had taken and the things that he had been exposed to. Somewhere along the way, he had lost himself in his sexual adventures and he was scared he might never get parts of himself back.

He was stuck in these thoughts and fears for most of the afternoon, so when Blaine finally awoke at about 6pm looking alive and raring to go once more, he had to admit that he was feeling distinctly out of sorts and more than a little nervous. When Blaine moved on top of him and turned the casual kissing in to the beginning of something else, the fear ratcheted up. He froze and Blaine noticed immediately. God Bless Blaine. But now they were preparing for a conversation that Kurt wished he would never have to have. He was terrified that Blaine would not be able to cope with his level of total mess. And why should he? Blaine was a beautiful, stunning man who could have anyone he chose. Why would he want a broken, messed up and freaked out guy like Kurt?

Kurt watched Blaine get up off the bed to pick up a sweater. He was so sad to watch that defined, muscular torso slip away under the thick bottle green fabric. His fingers were itching to reach out and touch Blaine's skin and pull him back to him. Kurt closed his eyes and tried to psyche himself up for the conversation. He was bitterly regretting all the things they could be doing right now if he had not felt the need to analyze everything to death and be completely honest. After a few minutes he felt the bed dip and Blaine handed him a cold beer.

"Sorry," he shrugged, "I needed a strong drink and this is all I had."

"Your meds?"

Blaine shot him as affectionate smirk. "Just one. I promise…Mum."

Kurt managed a small smile in return at the jibe but his insides were far too all over the place to continue the tease.

Blaine just sat on the bed looking unsure and a bit awkward. He reached his hand over to Kurt's and squeezed it.

"Can we just start?" he asked. "I'm kind of freaking out over here."

Kurt drew a deep breath and squeezed Blaine's hand back.

"I've been thinking… probably too much," Kurt looked up at Blaine in a sad way. "I don't really know where to begin but I need you to answer something really honestly for me."

"Of course," Blaine answered immediately.

"Do you find me attractive?"

Blaine looked completely nonplussed. "What?... Kurt, you are fucking hot. You know that."

"Yesterday, I offered to get undressed for you but you said no and told me to change in your bedroom. I've got to be honest, I felt pretty hurt by that. It's been bugging me a lot."

Blaine frowned in thought. "You mean the guacamole thing? No Kurt, I mean…"

Kurt could see that Blaine was about to deny the moment but then he stopped and bit his lip, looking at the quilt cover rather than at Kurt. He was silent for a few seconds and then he looked up at Kurt uncertainly.

"Shit," said Blaine. "I don't know how to say this. I want to be completely honest with you, but I don't want you to take this the wrong way."

He began twisting the quilt cover in his fingers. Kurt just sat and watched impassively. He felt kind of sick to his stomach but he refused to let Blaine out of this corner he had backed himself in to.

"Look, Kurt," Blaine tried, "OK…um…I feel bad even bringing this up as I said it was over and forgotten."

"You mean the first night…"

"Yeah," Blaine glanced at him gratefully. "It has nothing to do with not being attracted to you. Look I guess I am kind of scared. That night, it was like I was having sex with a stranger. You weren't there. I looked for you Kurt but it wasn't you."

Kurt felt like he had been punched.

"I'm sorry that came out wrong," Blaine immediately said, starting to back track at the look on Kurt's face.

"No, Blaine. I get it more than you know. I just… I guess I am a bit shocked that you saw through me that quickly. But I don't know why, you are you after all."

Blaine looked totally confused.

Kurt sighed and fell backwards on to the quilt. He put out a hand and pulled the edge of it around himself for comfort.

"My friend Sarah, in L.A. used to call that face "Super Kurt!". I don't know… she used to say that it was my magic mask for getting all my heart's desires. She was wrong. It only ever got things that I would have been better off without."

"I don't understand."

"I need to tell you about L.A. Blaine. You won't understand until that makes more sense."

"OK."

"God…where to begin? So Mark left after two years of trying to make something out of the disastrous train wreck that we jokingly called a relationship and I was alone. It was so lonely. I was working on the first show and the schedule was insane. I didn't know very many people and those that I did know were busy with their own lives. I spent all day working long hours, and then I would get home and crash. On the weekends I got bored of eating alone and so I would stay in my apartment and just sleep.

'After a few months of that, I desperately wanted to meet someone again. The problem was that I had enough recognisability on the street that I was too scared to try internet dating or even walking in to a bar. I quickly learned that people wanted to date me for what they thought I could give them or for the people I could introduce them too rather than to get to know me. After a while it just seemed like random hook ups were the only way to be treated like me, without people hoping for something else once we were done. That way I was just one more guy in the crowd and no one special.

'I started to frequent gay clubs. There were some really big, dazzling, terrifying ones in L.A. and the men in there were hot. Mostly I went there to dance but then I met some cute guys who were interested in me and I started letting them take me in to the back room were men were openly having sex with each other." Kurt looked up at Blaine, who was just looking back at him neutrally. Kurt couldn't tell what he was thinking but right now the confession felt really good, so Kurt soldiered on.

'I only went in the back rooms a few times, before someone recognised me. He was an Assistant Director from the show and he pulled me up short one day and told me that I was running a huge risk of being exposed in the media if I carried on frequenting the clubs. He told me point blank that the public would cope with an asexual fag but that I would be vilified if I gave them reason to label me as promiscuous or amoral. Prophetic, really…given the sex-tape situation.'

'Anyway he made me promise to stop going to the clubs and in return agreed to sort something out for me. Soon after I started getting invitations to exclusive house parties. He told me these were much safer as the guest list was carefully vetted. Oh god, I remember the first one. I was so nervous and it was crazy – just men everywhere. And drugs… I think there was Happy Birthday written in cocaine on a large table and people were expected to just roll up a banknote and sniff. Upstairs in the bedrooms there were groups of men having sex. It was completely terrifying. I think I only stayed at the first party for twenty minutes before running away.

'But the choice became, stay home all weekend with just the couch for company or to take up some of these invitations. About a month later I went to another party and tried to find some interesting people to talk to. It quickly became clear that no one attends the parties to talk though, and during every conversation I was propositioned. I didn't agree to anything at first but slowly I caved.

'I started attending parties about once a week. I think that's when I developed "Super Kurt" as a coping strategy. There was no way that I had the confidence to walk in as Kurt Hummel and not get eaten alive… in the worst sense of the word. Instead, I would pretend to be really outgoing and I guess kind of aggressive in what I wanted. When it became clear that no one switched numbers at these parties, I just focused on getting my needs met instead and tried not to get to know anyone. I ended up being surprisingly good at it."

"I know," said Blaine quietly. "I definitely met Super Kurt. Not sure I'm a fan though."

"You and me both. Super Kurt became so popular however that I had loads of invitations arriving soon and I was getting offered loads of free drugs and so much sex. I thought it was great at the time, but I'd always get home and feel so dirty. Even now my whole skin itches at the thought of all those hands touching me."

Kurt looked up at Blaine who was now sitting bolt upright on the bed.

"Blaine?"

Blaine got up off the bed and started to pace across the floor of his room.

"Blaine… please say something."

Blaine stopped but kept his back to Kurt, his head down. "Were you safe?" he asked angrily.

Kurt bit his lip. "Of course. It was like a rule. They threw out anyone if they were bare backing. And… I'm not an idiot."

"Have you been tested?"

Kurt was still staring at Blaine's back. His pulse rate picking up. This was going wrong really fast.

"Yes. I get tested every six months. I got back my last results just before I came here. I'm clean for everything."

Blaine just stood still and his head dipped lower. Kurt felt wrecked.

"Blaine, for God's sake, please look at me," Kurt winced at the blatant desperation in his voice. He sounded so raw.

He could see Blaine's shoulders rise and fall with a deep breath and then Blaine slowly turned. He looked very pale and unsure of himself.

"I know you need me to be "in-control and understanding Blaine" right now but I'm struggling here Kurt."

Kurt stayed silent as the tears began to slide down his face.

"I don't know what to say to you. I don't understand."

"Please come sit back down."

Blaine moved over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. He put his head in his hands.

"How many people have you been with Kurt?"

Kurt froze. "Please don't do that Blaine."

Blaine looked at him with eyes filled with pain. "I'm sorry… I need to know."

Kurt felt so embarrassed. He wanted to claw his way out of the conversation.

"I don't know."

"You don't know, because you were too drunk or high to be paying attention? Or you don't know because there were so many?"

"Jesus, Blaine. I don't know."

Blaine looked at him full in the eyes, his silence demanding an answer.

"Both."

Blaine turned away quickly and his shoulders began to shake with sobs.

Kurt was definitely streaming tears as well now and the few inches of quilt between them felt like a chasm.

Blaine turned towards Kurt one more time. "When was the last time you tricked?"

Kurt's heart sank and he looked away. He thought about dodging the question or lying but he knew that this was it. The crunch point. If they could not get past this then this was over.

He looked back at Blaine and drew in every ounce of courage. "Last month."

Kurt could see Blaine's brain start to compute that.

"You mean, after us? After you had started to volunteer at TH? IN COLUMBUS, LAST MONTH?"

Kurt felt as though he could actually hear the scattered pieces of their relationship fall apart around him. He wanted so desperately to reach for Blaine and beg him to understand but he knew now this was Blaine's moment. Everything was now in his hands.

Blaine got off the bed quickly and walked to the furthest corner of his room, pretending to stare at the bookshelves. He was still for a really long time.

Kurt finally broke. "Should I leave?" He felt like his heart was being ripped in two.

"NO..." Blaine whipped around. "You walk out that door then we are over. We are both staying in this room until we sort this out. Am. I. Clear?"

Kurt nodded and fell silent. A glimmer of hope was being kindled in his heart. He sent up a silent prayer that he was not going to screw up this lifeline now.

Blaine fell to his knees on the floor. He looked so broken and Kurt wanted desperately to run to him but he knew from the look on Blaine's face that he needed space right now.

"Why, Kurt?"

Kurt took a breath and brushed back his fringe. "It was stupid. I was feeling kind of useless and wrecked. I just needed some affirmation that I was good at something, or desirable…you know. I mean, you have no idea, how good you are at what you do. All the kids and staff love you. You are like this amazing healer type person. And you are so fucking perfect. And who am I? Just some washed up hack actor…chased out of L.A. shamefully. Even my father is embarrassed by me. I just needed to know that I was wanted."

"I want you. God, Kurt. You are not any of those things. You are this amazing, beautiful talented man, with a heart that is just unstoppable. You're Kurt fucking Hummel, for fuck's sake. You have legions of fans and people love you. Your family loves you. I love you. How can you doubt that?"

"I don't know. I guess I just needed to take the edge off of the anxiety, you know?"

"So sex is just a stress reliever now? A way of coping with life? Pain management?"

Kurt nodded.

"God… FUCK!"

"Why is this so hard for you? I mean I knew it wouldn't be easy, but everything I'm saying is clearly upsetting you more. What am I missing?"

Blaine paused for about a long time and then walked slowly back to the edge of the bed. He remained hunched over with his elbows on his knees, contemplating his hands.

Finally he answered quietly so Kurt had to strain to hear, "Kurt, sex for me is my way of expressing love and commitment. The way it always was with you and me before. It's the most precious gift that I have to give you and now I feel like it's worthless."

"No Blaine, it's not…"

Blaine turned to Kurt, his eyes a deep well of hurt. "Kurt, how can I compete with hundreds of lovers? I will always come up short. What happens in six months time when we are together and you need more? I can't share you Kurt, it would kill me but I feel like I will never be able to satisfy you – I won't be enough."

Now Kurt really did move to sit next to Blaine. He took his hands immediately. "Blaine, you are enough. You are everything. The sex was not a way of satisfying some out of control need… it was an attempt to replace you. And, believe me, it didn't work. I know for a fact that nothing can replace you but you. I don't want to have sex with anyone else. Everything in me craves you."

"But when you had me, you treated me like a trick and tossed me aside when you were done."

"I know. I was so scared Blaine. I didn't know what to do and I wanted so desperately to impress you. I wanted you to see me as an adult, and not some college kid that you had to sacrifice your happiness for to save," Blaine flinched at those words. Kurt reached an arm around his shoulders to soothe the hurt.

"I panicked Blaine. I let myself fall in to a pattern that I knew too well. Super Kurt to the rescue! I failed miserably to connect to you like I should have done. And then you effortlessly reminded me what real sex is like. With one fucking hand job you leveled me. I didn't know what to do. I felt like such a mess and you looked so hurt, so I left."

Blaine looked a bit calmer now and seemed to be considering what Kurt said.

"You want me?"

"God, yes!"

"Kurt, there's no back up option to this. If I decide today to trust you, I expect to be able to fully trust you. If you break that trust, you break us. Am I clear?"

Kurt looked at Blaine, feeling really hopeful for the first time.

"Yes."

"Can you really only live with just me?"

"It's not just you Blaine. You are worth more to me than every other man I have been with. You are the only one that counted. I know I can live with all of you."

Blaine looked in to Kurt's eyes searchingly. Kurt calmly looked straight back at him.

"And no more Super Kurt… I kind of hate that guy."

Kurt bit his lip. "I hate him too but I'm not sure I know how to have sex without him anymore."

Blaine gave him an assessing look.

"Let me show you how."

He leaned forward and kissed Kurt hard, gripping the back of his head tightly and pulling the man towards him, giving no space for argument.

Kurt moaned in to the kiss and felt his heart soar. He recognized this Blaine too although he had not seen Blaine act like this in years.

Blaine pulled back from the kiss and looked Kurt deep in his eyes seeking permission. Kurt nodded and scooted back on to the bed, reaching his arms for Blaine to follow.

Blaine's eyes went hard, almost feral. He crawled on to the bed on all fours and slunk very sexily across the quilt to Kurt. Then he pounced and pinned Kurt back to the bed by his arms and legs.

Kurt looked up at this beautiful man above him. Blaine's eyes were so full of lust it actually snatched Kurt's breath from his chest. Kurt felt fingers scrambling to undo his shirt and he reached down to help unbutton quickly. He was literally peeled out of his clothes and lay back on the bed panting at the swarm of emotions shooting through his body.

He was about to be claimed. He shut his eyes as his brain tried to take all of the new information in. He felt Blaine resume his position on top of him and allowed himself to be pressed deep in to the comforter. Kurt whimpered as he felt with his hands expanses of bare skin.

"Open your eyes," Blaine said coaxingly. "Are you sure about this Kurt? I mean it. If we do this, you are mine and I will not share you."

Kurt nodded totally and 100% sure. He heard Blaine growl in the back of his throat and suddenly his lips were smashed together with Blaine's in a deep, hungry kiss. He allowed his hands to move over Blaine's back, feeling every dip and curve that he had explored earlier that night. He felt Blaine sigh in to his mouth at the touches.

Then Blaine began to move his attentions to Kurt's neck and shoulders. Kurt turned his head to allow Blaine more room to work, but Blaine laughed.

"I don't think hickeys would go down too well tomorrow."

Blaine moved down instead to Kurt's chest and collar bone. "But here," he said, "no one would see this here." He proceeded to bite down in to Kurt's willing flesh and the ground his torso down in to Kurt's groin. Kurt groaned out loud in sheer ecstasy.

Blaine continued licking and nibbling his way down Kurt's body, clearly appreciating what he saw. Every few minutes he would glance up and check that Kurt was still with him, but as Kurt currently had his hands in Blaine's hair and his eyes glued to the man's head, there was no chance that he was anything but a captive audience.

Kurt gasped when he felt Blaine's warm breath over his cock. He dug his hands deeper in to Blaine's hair and started to push Blaine's head down in to his groin. He needed this so desperately and… Blaine stopped moving. Kurt released his hold and actually whimpered at the loss of sensation as Blaine turned his head up to face Kurt. Kurt was relieved to see a smirk on his face.

"Nope. Not now. This is not about you, this is about us. You will trust me to take care of you tonight."

Kurt groaned out loud and threw his head back frustrated. He mentally tried to stuff Super Kurt back in to his box. Then Blaine took him in his mouth and really that was all that mattered because what else was there? This felt like home. Blaine's mouth was just how he remembered. His breath hitched when he looked down and saw those familiar eyes staring back at him, lips stretched tight around his cock. Then Blaine swallowed and groaned with pleasure and his eyes sort of rolled back in his head at the sheer delight of having Kurt in his mouth again. Kurt knew he had never seen anything so frigging hot as Blaine having sex. Nothing in his life would ever compare to that.

Then Blaine released him. Kurt wanted to cry. He tried to move his body back to Blaine's mouth but Blaine pushed his hips back on the bed and slowly kissed his way back up to Kurt's mouth, tugging on nipples and flesh as he went.

Kurt ran his nails up and down Blaine's back in response, loving the strangled sounds that came from Blaine as he arched in to the touch and then away from the ticklish points. Blaine looked deep in to his eyes and put three fingers in to Kurt's mouth, encouraging Kurt to suck, lick and taste them, getting them totally wet.

He watched Blaine reach out for the lube bottle and liberally coat his fingers once Kurt finally released them. Then Blaine slowly reached down and Kurt bucked as he felt a finger at his hole. He felt his eyes well up in total gratitude as Blaine swirled the hole gently studying Kurt's eyes and reactions until finally he pushed the tip of one finger through the circular muscle.

Kurt leaned up and kissed Blaine's cheek pulling his ear closer to his mouth.

"Deeper…more… need more."

"Fuck… jesus you are so hot."

Kurt felt the second finger breach him and he bared down moving so that Blaine could easily find the nub inside of him. Blaine knew exactly what he was doing and massaged Kurt internally with the skill of someone who had known him for years. Kurt's lost all pretence at control at that point, because… ohmygodohmygod… how he had missed this.

He fell apart becoming completely unglued. His hands were reaching out in to the sheets burying deep in to them, twisting them around his fingers as his eyes rolled back in to his head.

He flailed suddenly and reached to grab Blaine pulling his face right up close. "Need you… now… please, Blaine, please…"

Blaine just dropped his forehead on to Kurt's and kissed him deeply. "Of course… I love hearing you beg."

Blaine moved off him for a second and Kurt heard the condom wrapper being opened. Then Kurt was aware of his legs being stretched apart and he quickly wrapped them high up around Blaine's body… and then… oh yes, god, yes… Blaine finally pushed in to him, filling him up perfectly in that way he needed and craved so desperately.

Blaine let out a groan that was so loud that Kurt came to from his otherwordly headspace and just looked up at the man above him. Blaine's head was stretched back, the muscles in his neck taut, his arms and torso rippling with the strain of not thrusting hard immediately. His eyes were closed in pure bliss and Kurt melted inside that he could still do that to Blaine, even after all of these years.

After hanging in space for a few seconds, Blaine looked down at Kurt and moved to take his lips in a splintering kiss that shattered the last of Kurt's defenses. He felt Blaine begin to move inside him and he just began clawing and the man's back, meeting his thrusts, absorbing every inch of him inside his body. Blaine dug his hand in to Kurt's hair and held his head still then he began to chant over and over:

"Mine…Mine…Mine…" in time with his thrusts.

Kurt felt the heat begin to coil inside of him at the knowledge of being so completely owned. He began to answer back between rasping breaths and pants, "Yours" as he felt the weight of Blaine in him, on him and all around him claiming and owning him.

Blaine angled his thrusts perfectly to set Kurt on fire and hot waves of perfection soared through him until finally he felt the familiar white light build up at the back of his eyes.

"So close… Blaine… so close!"

Blaine reached a hand down between them and grabbed Kurt's cock hard, moving over it perfectly. Kurt whimpered and screwed his eyes up focusing on his pleasure.

"Open your eyes," he heard Blaine whisper huskily in to his ear. His eyes flew open and he looked straight at Blaine who was staring back at him, enjoying every second of Kurt's pleasure. Kurt groaned one last time and Blaine whispered in his ear, "Come for me, love."

And that was it… game over. Kurt felt his orgasm rip through his body and explode all over their bellies and chests. He was dimly aware through the waves of pleasure that Blaine continued thrusting until he too let out an unearthly sound and collapsed on to Kurt, joining him in a post-orgasmic haze.

Kurt stayed like that wrapped up tight around Blaine until his muscles screamed at him to let go. He dimly remembered Blaine disentangling himself and crawling away from Kurt but then before his brain thought to complain, he was back with a warm cloth and was cleaning Kurt up and coaxing him under the covers. The two of them crawled in to bed together and held each other tightly.

The last thing Kurt remembered was Blaine whispering in his ear again, "Mine." Kurt felt a deep warm glow burning through him as he answered, "Yours".

* * *

_Please review. I am home sick today with stomach flu and your reviews will make my world seem happy and bright!_

: )

_For those of you worried about Jack, we will be back at TH in the next chapter.._


	23. Chapter 23

_AN: Thank you all for the lovely feedback from the last chapter. Here we are back in TH. Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 23

Blaine hopped up the steps in to TH with a cup of coffee in his hand and a buzzing swarm of emotions in his heart. Memories of this whole insane weekend were causing his brain to explode. He had left Kurt in his bed this morning. It had been amazing to wake up with the man in his arms but he wasn't completely easy after everything Kurt had said the night before. Now he was heading in to Jack and the whole mess from Saturday night that seemed to have been put on hold until today.

As soon as he walked in to the front hall he saw Jack sitting on the stairs waiting for him.

"Morning," Blaine said cheerfully. He nodded to the night counselor who was waiting with Jack to let her know that she could head off shift.

Jack just rolled his eyes at him. "When am I allowed off sentry duty?"

Blaine laughed. "When you have seen Dr Blake which will be…" Blaine went to his post tray and pulled out a few messages, "at 11.30 today." He looked at the clock on the wall. "So we have three hours of quality time bucko, what would you like to do?"

Jack groaned and dramatically collapsed back on to the stairs he was sitting on. "You are far too chipper this morning. Hot night with Kurt last night?"

He smiled innocently up at Blaine, who just rolled his eyes, even if he couldn't stop the slight blush to his cheeks.

"Thought so."

"Shut up Jack."

"Whatever dude… just spill your happiness and rainbows somewhere else will you? It's sickening."

Blaine laughed.

"So it's a nice day, how about we get out of here and go for a walk of something? I know you should be in class but I want to check in with you first."

Jack groaned some more and made a big deal about getting to his feet but he didn't actually argue with Blaine and soon they were both walking down the street towards the park a few blocks away.

"How was yesterday?" Blaine asked.

"Fine. I slept mostly and then Steve came and talked with me for a while. He's cool."

"What did you talk about?"

"Stupid stuff. Guitars and things. I think he wanted to know that I was OK. He said that he felt bad that they had had to restrain me like that. He said that I had scared him."

"Huh… that must have been weird to hear."

"Yeah, I guess. I mean he's like this totally butch dude, you know. Did you know he used to play pro-football? That's so cool. But I didn't think that anything could scare Steve."

"It was a pretty scary night all in all."

"Yeah. I don't remember much of it."

They arrived at the park and sat on a large tree stump in the middle. Jack climbed to the highest point off the ground and curled up, leaning back, looking up at the sky.

Blaine traced parts of the gnarled wood with his finger and breathed in the peace and quiet around them. The park was pretty empty except for the occasional dog walker and jogger.

"Blaine, do you think anyone is ever going to want me after they find out the truth?"

Blaine looked up at Jack in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"You know, after they find out what I have done?"

"Oh Jack. Buddy, you didn't do anything wrong. Everything that happened was the fault of someone else. It most definitely wasn't down to you. And yes, for the record, when you are ready, I think you will definitely find someone wonderful who will love you for everything that you are and will see what you have been through as a sign that you are an amazing person to have survived."

Jack was quiet for a minute.

"I should have run away sooner."

Blaine looked up at him. "If someone was telling me the horror stories that you were being told every day by Tom, I don't know that I would have had the guts to leave. I'm just so proud of you that you left when you did."

Jack bit his lip and looked down at Blaine. "Really?"

"Totally. It must have taken massive guts to have run away like you did. I just wish that there had been someone in your life that you could have run too. That's the part of your story that makes me so sad."

Jack sighed. "I miss my Mum."

"What was she like?"

"She looked like me. Or I guess I look like her. She used to give the best hugs. My Dad was always at work and Mum used to take care of us. She used to make awesome toll house cookies." Blaine smiled in response.

Jack put his head back against the branch behind him. "She could be a pain too. She knew everything and had X-ray vision, I swear." He paused and then looked directly at Blaine. "She would never have missed what happened to me."

Blaine nodded in understanding. That was the situation in a nutshell wasn't it. None of this needed to have happened if Jack's father had been more pushy, interested, loving, and accepting of Jack. It broke Blaine's heart.

"How old were you when she became sick?"

"About ten. She was ill for about two years but only really sick at the end. The doctors thought that she was going to make it for the longest time but she didn't. I get so mad about that sometimes, you know? I wonder if she had fought harder and ate better or rested more whether she would still be here." Blaine noticed a tear escape down Jack's cheek before he wiped it away angrily.

"It just makes me so mad. It was so unfair."

"Yes, it was. A lot of what happened to you was really unfair. You have been really unlucky Jack."

"So what's to stop that continuing on? Who's to say that I am just not going to be unlucky for the rest of my life?"

Blaine looked up at him seriously. "Jack, as adults we have a lot more choices and a lot more control over our lives. That's not to say bad and unfair things don't happen. They happen to everyone. But the way you deal with them will be in your hands. You now know what a Tom looks like in this world and the next time you see someone like him, you'll know to run a mile. You have had a crash course on who to trust and how and while it was a shitty way to learn, you won't need to make that mistake twice."

Jack looked unsure and bit his thumb. Blaine thought of an example. "I mean look at Derek. That man would have had me quaking in my boots. I would have had no idea how to handle him or survive in the squat two minutes, let alone two months. But you seem to have managed that remarkably well. You even have positive things to say about your time there. If you can cope with someone like him and live to tell the tale, I promise you will be able to cope with the majority of adults and the shit they try to pull. You will see right through the bullshit and know how to not be walked over. That's a massive positive dude."

"I guess."

"Jack, I got to ask you. What Tom did was really wrong, have you thought about going to the police?"

"No."

"OK. Look it's your choice and it wouldn't be easy, but I think you should consider it. It makes me furious to know he got away with what he did to you." Blaine also thought about what he could be doing to another kid but he decided not to put that emotional pressure on Jack at this point.

Jack just shook his head. "I just want to forget about it. It's not like I have any proof. Who would believe me anyway?"

"I believe you Jack." Jack looked straight at Blaine.

"Think about it. If you change your mind I'll be right there with you."

Jack shrugged noncommittally and Blaine felt that that was good enough for the day.

"So in about twenty minutes we should head back to Dr Blake," Jack groaned. "I'll buy you an ice cream on the way."

Jack perked up at that. "But first we need to talk about Mike," Blaine said.

"Yeah…" Jack trailed off in to silence.

"Did you speak to him yesterday?"

Jack shook his head.

"OK. Jack when he kissed you and it was unexpected; did he force himself on you in any way?"

Jack looked up alarmed. "No, of course not. We were just messing around with the guitars and trying to figure out a chord change and I said something that made him laugh and he kissed me."

"OK. So the poor guy is probably pretty confused right now."

"I guess. I mean don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy and all but I don't want anything like that."

Blaine nodded.

"Alright, well let's meet with him after lunch."

"Oh God… do we have to?"

"Jack, Mike probably thinks that he is responsible for you having such a hard time on Saturday night."

"But that's crazy."

"I know… but how would you feel if you kissed someone and they then had such a strong reaction?"

Jack kicked at the tree a bit. "Yeah OK… what am I going to say to him?"

"Let's figure that out over ice cream."

* * *

After ice cream and a quick appointment with Dr Blake who thankfully agreed with Blaine's assessment that Jack was not suicidal, Jack and Blaine sat down with Mike in Blaine's office to talk.

Mike looked really awkward and refused to meet anyone's eyes. He scuffed his feet in to the floor instead. Jack looked at Blaine kind of desperately, not knowing what to say.

"Mike," Blaine started, "thank you for being here. We wanted to talk about Saturday night with you."

Mike flushed and got a look in his eyes that showed he was becoming defensive. "I didn't do anything wrong."

Jack looked away guiltily but Blaine jumped in. "I know. Jack is really clear about that. He said that he and you were both having a great time and that you kissed him."

Mike bit his lip but said nothing.

Blaine continued. "Jack, do you want to tell Mike why you reacted the way you did?"

Jack looked at Blaine nervously and then quickly glanced at Mike. They had spent a long time prepping for this but Blaine felt his insides clench with anxiety as he wondered if Jack would be brave enough to follow through.

Jack paused for a minute too long and Mike looked over at him for the first time that day. "I didn't hurt you," Mike said with a slight edge in his voice as though he was being accused of this.

Jack flushed and nodded, "No you didn't. I just…haven't had good experiences with men before and I freaked out." Jack sat up straighter and turned to Mike properly. "I'm sorry Mike. It wasn't about you. I shouldn't have thrown the water pitcher at you either. I just wasn't coping well."

Mike seemed to deflate with those words. It was clear to Blaine that he had expected to be categorically blamed for the whole incident and didn't quite know what to say now. "I did ask you at dinner if you were OK. You should have said something."

Jack nodded. "I know. I just don't like talking about it and I was annoyed with myself for getting worked up over one silly kiss."

Mike looked down at his knees. "I thought you were mad at me. I thought I was going to get in to serious trouble."

Jack was silent and clearly did not know what to say.

Mike went on. "I'm sorry for hitting you. I should not have done that. I kind of lost control."

Jack nodded. "It's OK. I probably deserved it."

Blaine wanted to jump in to deny this, but kept quiet. He knew that they needed to resolve this on their own as much as possible.

The boys looked talked out however and were back to staring at anything in the room that wasn't each other or Blaine. Blaine took pity on them. "OK. If you guys are done then you can go back to class. I think glee starts in about half and hour or so."

Jack stood up quickly and walked to the door but Mike hung back. "Can I talk to you for a second Blaine?"

"Sure." Blaine nodded to Jack to go on. "What's up?"

Mike sat on the couch in his usual position with his feet hanging over one of the arm rests. He looked thoroughly done in.

"I know things got really bad with Jack on Saturday. He's been one on one since then and we didn't really see him at all on Sunday."

Blaine nodded.

"Did I do that to him? I mean I know what he just said but would you tell me if I did?"

Blaine looked at Mike carefully.

"Look Mike, Jack has been through some really tough stuff around his sexuality and as he said to you, he didn't react very well."

Mike nodded. "Did I misread the signs? I mean I'm not very good at this. I thought he was in to me but that was my first kiss, maybe I didn't get things right."

Blaine felt his heart sink for the kid. "Oh Mike, I'm sorry. That shouldn't be how first kisses go. You were just unlucky dude. I don't know that Jack even knows what he wants at this point but I don't think he'll be ready for a relationship with anyone for a while. I know he really values you as a friend. He told me that and he has been really clear with all of us that you did not do anything and were not to blame at all for him falling apart."

Mike looked at him worriedly. "OK."

Blaine looked at Mike who was chewing his bottom lip between his teeth. "Is there something else?"

Mike looked at him. "Look, I don't know… I was pretty upset on Sunday when I went out with some of the others. I probably said a lot of things about Jack that I shouldn't have done. Some of the other kids started talking as though they were going to sort Jack out for me. I don't really know what they mean and I told them not to, but you know what these guys can be like if they think that their buddy has been dissed. I just wanted you to know, in case they do something stupid."

"What did you tell them?"

Mike went a bit pale. "I told them about the kiss and I may have said something about Jack being a cocktease. I'm sorry. I was mad and ashamed and I didn't really get what had happened."

"And what did they say they were going to do?"

"They didn't really. They just told me they would sort Jack out for me. I'm sorry Blaine. I'll try to stop them but…"

Blaine knew what he meant all too well. Mike was a popular kid in the home and everyone liked him and looked up to him. If the others felt that Mike had been slighted in some way they would defend him strongly. Unfortunately the fact that Jack always kept himself to himself and rarely went out meant that he did not have much of his own loyalty built up.

Blaine immediately began plotting in his head how to put staff on alert to watch out for Jack but he knew that there would only be so much that staff could stop. These types of things could get out of hand really quickly.

This may not be good.

* * *

_AN: Let the drama roll... : ) _

_Please review._


	24. Chapter 24

_AN: Dear lovely readers, I apologize that I have slowed down in my posting. I was starting to be less happy with the quality of the chapters that I was putting up and decided instead to slow down and get the ending of the story right. I hate when long stories fall apart in the final chapters and I am trying really hard to keep this one moving all the way to the end. _

_Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews and for getting me to 300! I never thought people would care enough about this to take the time to review as wonderfully as you have. It makes me very happy._

_Enjoy..._

* * *

Chapter 24

Kurt was chatting happily with Sarah in the art room when Jack stomped in. They both exchanged a look when Jack threw himself down dramatically in to a comfy armchair in the corner and threw his legs over the arm rest. Sarah frowned questioningly at Kurt who shrugged but nodded to her and she slipped quietly to the sink, turning her back and started to wash up some pots and brushes.

Kurt turned on his stool, away from the prop that he had been making, and looked at Jack.

"What's up with you?"

"Don't want to talk about it."

Kurt shrugged. "That's the kind of entrance I make in to a room when I have a lot to say. Are you sure?"

Jack looked over at him with an irritated expression that Kurt shot an amused eyebrow up at. "Blaine made me talk to Mike about Saturday night and now the guy is going to think I am a loser. They are currently in Blaine's office talking about me and I can't stand not knowing what they are saying."

"Ah…yes," Kurt answered. "I am not very good at not knowing what people are saying about me either. I pretend it doesn't bug me but I don't do a good job of dealing with it at all and usually end up being really pissy."

Jack looked at Kurt with interest, and slowly stood up from the arm chair to take the stool next to him.

"Can I ask you something?" Jack continued.

"Sure," Kurt replied.

"Blaine and I were talking about something this morning... I read on Wikipedia that your Mum died of cancer when you were 8. Is that true?"

"Yes."

"My Mum died when I was 12."

"I'm sorry."

Jack did not look at Kurt but instead reached across to a scrap piece of paper and grabbed a green crayon that was lying around. Kurt watched him doodle for a bit wondering where Jack was hoping to take this conversation.

Finally Jack looked up at Kurt. "Did you live with your Dad after your Mum died?"

"Yes I did. It was just us so we stuck really close together."

"What was your Dad like?"

Kurt considered this question for a while remembering what Jack had said about his father on Saturday night.

"Well, I think we both really struggled. It was just him and me. I remember that I would try not to cry too much because it always made my Dad get this really heartbroken expression on his face. I couldn't stand seeing him looking so lost. He's never said this but I am pretty sure there were days when he thought that maybe he couldn't manage and maybe he was failing as a Dad. I know that I became a much better behaved kid as a result because I couldn't stand seeing him look disappointed in me. I also learnt to cook really quickly because most of the food he made was burned."

Jack smiled at that but he kept his head down and continued to doodle on the paper in front of him. Kurt tried to gauge Jack's reaction but he couldn't get a vibe from him so he continued.

"We managed in the end. When I was younger he used to try really hard to play with me and give me lots of time, which must have been tough as we don't share many of the same interests at all. When I was older, he steered me through being a teenager and that was not easy either because I was obnoxious, particularly when I was trying to figure things out for myself. We had a pretty bumpy time of it for a while. I remember being so scared that I would destroy our relationship when I told him that I was gay, because, I don't know, he's just a real guys' guy and I thought he would be insulted or hate me for it."

Jack looked up at Kurt. "What did he do?"

Kurt felt so sad inside, knowing just what was driving that question. "I was really lucky Jack. My Dad just told me he had known since I was three. I mean, looking back on it, it was pretty obvious. I guess there aren't many nine year old boys who insist on playing tea parties for hours, and teaching their father the proper etiquette for holding a cup!"

Jack looked bemused. "Wow… you are a freak too. You and Blaine totally deserve each other."

Kurt blushed and got this really cute but embarrassed look on his face. Jack rolled his eyes. "God, you two are so blatant."

Kurt decided to get the conversation back on topic. "What was your Dad like when your Mum died Jack?"

Jack chewed the inside of his lip. "He really tried I guess. I have two younger siblings so with three of us I think we drove him slowly crazy. Mum had always been the one at home and so I think rearranging his life to be there for us was hard for him. There was less money too as he had to cut his hours to fit around school."

"Did your family help?"

"My grandmother was around for a while but she left after a few months saying that she was too old and couldn't manage us any more, whatever that meant. We still saw her very occasionally and Dad always got really uptight before we visited, telling us that we had to be on our best behavior and all that shit. My sister could be a bit of a handful sometimes and my grandmother never failed to point that out. It drove my Dad crazy."

"That sounds really hard."

"I guess. I mean there were some really great times too. Dad had this thing about Sunday afternoons. He wanted it to be special family time each week and so we would plan an activity to do together. We would play football in the park or go to the cinema. We once took my sister to a ballet… I remember my brother and Dad fell asleep during it but she loved it. She danced all the way home."

"Wow. So he did some things right then?" Kurt asked tentatively. He felt like he was stepping around landmines.

Jack got a sad and wistful expression on his face that made Kurt's heart hurt a little. "Yeah he did alright for us mostly. I wish I hadn't disappointed him so much by being gay. I miss him."

GOD. Kurt felt his eyes well up with tears and clamped his jaw tight shut to try to regain control of his emotions. Then he shook his head. "Jack, it's not your fault that you are gay or that your Dad reacted in the way that he did. It's not your role in life to be who your father wants you to be. You know, my Dad once told me that it was my job to be myself and his job to love me no matter what. I believe that is true with all my heart Jack."

Jack was quiet for a minute and Kurt bit his lip wondering if he was saying the right things. He was almost relieved when Jack finally broke the silence and asked, "Was your Dad there for you when you were being bullied?"

Wow, these questions did not get any easier. Kurt began, once again, thanking his lucky stars that his Dad had been so amazing. "Yes. I mean just like you I hid a lot of stuff from him because I didn't want to worry him and I was ashamed, but one day he saw some things for himself and he went ballistic. He actually pushed this football player up against a wall and screamed in his face. It was pretty intense. Then he pulled me out of my high school when he did not like their response to the situation and he paid for me to go to a private school."

Jack got a very thoughtful expression on his face. "My Dad supported me at first too. He used to go charging down to the school when I would come home with bruises. At the time I was so embarrassed but now, looking back, it was nice that he was that worried, you know? But then when Tom came on the scene it was like, the fact that I was gay was all that mattered and he lost interest in anything else about me."

"That's horrible but it's not uncommon Jack. My Dad is rare. I know Blaine was really jealous of my relationship with him as his Dad still struggles with the fact that he is gay."

Jack looked up in surprise. "Really?"

Kurt bit his lip and wondered if he had shared too much. He wasn't as good about keeping professional distance as Blaine was. He hoped Blaine wouldn't mind the slip. "Yeah."

Jack went quiet and picked up a second crayon. Kurt wondered if they were done for the moment.

Then Jack blitzed him. "What did your Dad think about the sex tape?"

Kurt immediately felt himself get hot in the face and defensive. He was about to angrily respond that that was a totally inappropriate question and none of Jack's business, but then he saw Jack's face. The kid was looking very seriously at him and Kurt was reminded about the cyberbullying campaign that Blaine said Jack had gone through at school.

"Jack, I don't feel comfortable talking about the video with you so I'm just going to talk about my general feelings. Is that OK?"

Jack nodded.

"My Dad was angry that I had been violated in that way. You see, I didn't know anything about the video until it exploded on to the internet. That was probably the most humiliating experience of my life. My Dad was angry for me."

Kurt decided to leave out the rest of his father's reaction and crossed his fingers hoping that Jack had got whatever support he needed out of that statement. He didn't think he could tolerate much more intrusive digging at this point.

Jack looked surprised. "Your Dad is seriously cool. I wish my Dad was like that. I had a tape on YouTube that was horrible. When he saw it, he went crazy and kept asking how he could ever look his friends in the face again. He kept demanding that I take it down, like I put it up there myself. I mean God, he didn't know me at all… how could he possibly have thought that I would want to put myself through that? He didn't look me in the eyes for like a week. It was soon after that that his campaign to get me to date a girl started."

Jack propped his head on his hand and looked at Kurt. "You are so lucky with your Dad, you know?"

Kurt nodded. "I know."

Jack sighed and turned back to the piece of paper he had been scribbling over. They sat in comfortable silence for a few more minutes until it was time for Glee.

* * *

Kurt's brain was still reeling from the previous conversation with Jack when he stood in front of the Glee Club and mentally scrambled for today's lesson plan. There was a weird buzz in the room but Kurt assumed that the kids were just picking up on his own emotions. He got the attention of the class and began talking through an idea he had for an upcoming Christmas concert that the kids could perform to the school.

One of the girls in the front row, Sally, put up her hand. "I have an idea for a really good Christmas song we could try. The girls have been working on it in the dorms today. Can we share it with the class?"

Sally looked around at the group and Kurt saw the other girls smiling back at her and at him. Kurt was so taken aback at the request to perform in front of the group that he jumped on the break through moment.

"Sure. Come on up," he said, feeling for all the world like Mr Schuester.

He felt a surge of pride go through him as all five girls trooped up to the front. In the back of his mind, he was dimly aware that the classroom door opened behind him and turned to acknowledge Mike slipping in the back of the class.

The girls started in on an acappella version of "You're a Mean One, Mr Grinch". At first Kurt was blown away by the rearrangement of the song to suit the girls' voices and settled in to enjoy the seasonally appropriate rendition. Then he noticed that Mike was sitting up very stiffly and was looking mortified.

The weird energy in the room kept building and Kurt struggled to get a handle on it. The girls were singing very sweetly at the front of the class but the boys listening were beginning to react as though they were hearing a very funny inside joke. They kept turning to each other and whispering and then staring at Jack.

About half way through the girls started to pointedly emphasise certain lines like "I would not touch you with a 39 and a half foot pole" and almost hurling the words in Jack's direction. Jack was looking frozen on his seat, gripping the edges of the chair tightly. He didn't seem to be fully grasping what was going on but he was also clearly very uncomfortable.

Suddenly a presence moved next to Kurt and he physically jumped in his chair before he realized that Mike was sitting next to him and trying to get his attention. "You've got to stop them. This was a mean joke they came up with yesterday to make me feel better about what happened with Jack. I had no idea they were actually going to do this but you've got to stop this now."

Kurt glanced at Mike quickly and registered the panic in his face. The song was fast coming to an end and the girls were looking increasingly mean and menacing.

"OK, ENOUGH!" Kurt said, breaking in to the song. The girls stopped suddenly and looked at him surprised.

Sally turned to him and put on a face of total innocence. "What's wrong? Did we sing it badly or something?"

Kurt felt at a momentary loss. He had no idea what to say without making the situation worse. The silence was deafening and Kurt looked at Jack who was looking around the room desperately trying to figure out what was going on.

"Sally, I was explicitly clear that Glee Club would be a safe space for everyone. What you and the others did just now was absolutely not OK."

Sally pretended to look surprised. "What did I do? We were singing a Christmas song for the concert." Kurt felt that she was speaking to him really slowly as though he was an idiot. He became aware that he was getting very hot under the collar as his brain scrambled to figure out how best to get out of this mess.

But he was spared the difficulty of responding when Jack suddenly stood up, face flaming, holding a piece of paper that he had clearly just been handed by another kid. Kurt couldn't see what was on it but Jack scrunched the paper up quickly and threw it on the floor. Then he ran out of the class, bolting through door. The supporting counselor left after him, leaving Kurt with the rest of the group.

Kurt was horrified when the class as a whole responded by laughing out loud. "What are you doing?" he asked. But the kids were not paying him any attention. The volume in the room became very loud as lewd jokes about Grinches and Jack were passed around at lightening speed.

Kurt looked at Mike who was avoiding everybody's gaze and just scuffing his foot in to the floor. Kurt tried again to gain control of the group, finally resorting to screeching loudly over the noise.

This did not have quite the desired effect. Although the kids did stop talking and gave Kurt their attention, a couple of the kids just started shouting out at him.

"Man, lighten up, that was funny!"

"What's your problem, dude?"

Then Sally piped up from the front. "Look Kurt, we know that Jack is your favorite so of course you are going to stand up for him."

Kurt started to deny this but Sally carried on talking over him. "Please, you came in on a weekend to spend Saturday night talking to him. You didn't once check in on Mike to see how he was doing. It is obvious Jack is all you care about, but you know what? He was shitty to Mike and he needed to be told. We don't like him."

Kurt looked over at Mike hoping for some support but Mike just slumped further in to his chair and avoided all eye contact.

Kurt tried again. "None of you have any idea what happened on Saturday…"

"Yes we do," Sally cut over him again. "We know a lot more than you do. Mike told us everything. You don't live here so really this is none of your business. This is a private TH matter and you have no opinion. You can not tell us what to do. We are sorting out our own mess here."

Kurt felt anger burn up inside of him. He wondered idly if the trouble he would get in to for bitch slapping a student would be worth the satisfaction of doing it. Instead he breathed a deep breath and said, "I know I don't live here but you have no right to be so disrespectful…"

Sally stood up and turned to the rest of the class, "I think this class is over for today. I refuse to be lectured to about disrespect by a man with no morals and a public sex tape. I suggest we all leave in protest and let Mr. Hummel know who exactly is in charge at TH."

Kurt was taken aback with shock at the sarcastic derision in Sally's voice. He had never known that she could be capable of such pure venom. He just stood frozen as the whole group except for Mike stood up and followed her lead out the classroom door.

Mike stayed where he was sitting until the last kid had left, and then he looked up at Kurt. "I'm sorry," he said. "This is such a mess. I warned Blaine that I thought something was going to happen but I didn't realize it would be this quick."

Kurt nodded, dumbstruck. He had never had a single moment of disrespect from these kids after that first week. He had become so confident leading the class even without Blaine there. Now he felt shattered and worried for Jack.

He went over to his radio and let the other staff know that the Glee kids had left his room. When he turned back to Mike he found the seat was empty.

Kurt sat down heavily on the edge of the teacher's desk and tried to process what had just happened. He looked out over the room and remembered the piece of paper that Jack had screwed up and dropped on his way out of the class. He found it on the floor and saw a crude drawing of a Grinch with Jack's name underneath. On the other side of the piece of paper he saw the words "For Mike" scribbled on the front.

The blatant cruelness of what had just happened under his watch hit him powerfully. He felt like he had been sucker punched. It amazed him that a situation like that could turn so quickly and that a pack mentality could allow a group to be so cruel to one person when individually they were a really nice bunch of kids. He decided in that moment that he was in well over his head again and left the classroom to find Blaine. He hoped Jack was already with him and they could start repairing some of the damage. Seriously Kurt wondered, when would Jack get a break?

* * *

_When indeed? : ) _

_Please review._


	25. Chapter 25

_AN: Hey guys, nice to see you all again. I am going to attempt to post this and one more chapter this weekend._

_I just want to address an issue that keeps cropping up in the comments. I know that there is a considerable Mike/ Jack (Mack) contingent in the reviewers which I think is really sweet. __I have given this a lot of thought but sadly in my mind I believe it is unrealistic. Jack is certainly not in a space in his life where he could handle a relationship. Mike is another troubled teen with his own serious issues who would fall apart if he tried to look after Jack too. At best Mike can show Jack that he can be a gay teen without shame, but I think Mike would struggle to stand up for Jack on a regular basis. For this reason Mike will remain a secondary character and a signpost on Jack's journey to healthy self image. I hope that is not too disappointing. _

_Thanks as always for taking the time to comment, let me know what you think about my above thought - your feedback means a huge amount to me : )_

* * *

Chapter 25

Blaine's three o'clock session had been cancelled as Dwayne was out at a Holiday job interview. This meant that Blaine had been catnapping on his sofa when the call came out over the radio that there was a disturbance in the Glee Class. He sat up too quickly and tried to rub some semblance of coherent understanding in to his exhausted brain. His mind had been on hyper drive for too long and he felt like he needed to sleep for a year.

Instead he stared blearily at the wall across from him and focused on the chatter coming over the radio. Jack had stormed out of fire exit on the School Side and there were two counselors following him in the direction of the park. Blaine shut one eye and tried to focus on the rest of the noise. He stretched awkwardly to reclaim his shoes that he had kicked off haphazardly and struggled to figure out if he was most needed with Jack or in the Glee Class. A wave of guilt washed through him that he had not been in Glee to begin with.

He hesitated a couple more minutes and then heard Kurt over the radio sounding shaky and announcing that the Glee kids had left his class without permission. Blaine let a stream of curses fly under his breath as he did up his sneakers faster and grabbed his coat, bag and radio. He flew down the corridors towards the School Side, telling any Glee kids he passed to get back to the dorms immediately. As he rounded a corner near the kitchen he bumped bodily in to Kurt and had to immediately wrap his arms around him to prevent the other man from falling backwards.

"Sorry… hey I was looking for you. What happened?"

Kurt looked like he was going to cry and so Blaine grabbed his hand and dragged him in to a vacant staff office across the hall.

After shutting the door behind him he turned to Kurt, who was now looking pale but was fast pulling himself together.

"Shit… I don't know what happened, Blaine. The kids came in to the class with a plan to get at Jack and they pulled it off really well. I had no idea what was happening until it was way too late to stop it. Mike had to clue me in. When I tried to regain control, Sally tore pieces off me and then led the group to another overly dramatic walk out… Is Jack ok?"

Blaine shrugged. "He walked off the premises. There are two counselors with him. I was going to go after them but I thought maybe I was needed here. We can go find him now but… do you need a minute?"

Kurt breathed in deeply and nodded, moving towards Blaine. Blaine wrapped his arms around him tightly and felt Kurt bury his face in to his shoulder. He pressed his own cheek to Kurt's and rubbed circles in to his back. They stood in silence, bodies touching and holding each other, soaking in each other's warmth.

Finally, Kurt released his hold a bit and looked in to Blaine's eyes.

"I'm sorry. I feel like I let you down so much. I should have seen what was happening. I should have stopped it."

Blaine felt a massive pang of guilt shoot through him. "Kurt, it wasn't just you. I should have been there. Mike warned me that he thought something might happen. It just never occurred to me it would be this quick. I thought I had time to put a plan in place. I'm so sorry."

Kurt leaned forward and kissed Blaine, communicating clearly the received apology and the mending of any tiny breaks in their relationship caused by this incident. Blaine closed his eyes in relief as Kurt's lips moved over his own and he returned the kiss with equal passion just soaking up the love and comfort from the other man and ensuring that he reflected the same back.

The ring of Blaine's cell phone broke in to the hazy embrace. Blaine kept a firm arm around Kurt while he fiddled for the phone in his back pocket.

"Blaine… it's Steve. I'm with Jack at the park. Can you come out here? He is refusing to come back to TH and I'm not really making any headway. I'm worried he may run."

Blaine felt his stomach drop. "Sure, I'm on my way."

He turned to Kurt who had heard the conversation through the phone. Kurt just nodded.

"Let's go."

* * *

Blaine reached the park quicker than Kurt. With his sneakers on and his love of running, he was able to sprint the distance easily. Kurt had shooed him on when it was clear that he could not keep up and had gone very red in the face from the effort.

Once in the park Blaine had no idea which direction to head in. On instinct he went for the tree stump that he and Jack had chatted in together that morning. It ended up being a good guess and as he got closer he could see the figure of Jack seated high up in one of the few remaining branches contorted down as though he was in a full on argument with a large bear of a man shouting up at him from the ground. Blaine jogged over, sending Kurt a text about their location and then raised a hand to let the others know he was there.

Steve came walking over to meet him half way. "I'm glad you are here. He seems OK but he is very upset about something. Do you know what happened in the singing class thing?" Blaine nodded. "OK so you probably have more of an idea about what is going on than I do. I've been trying to get him to come back so we can sort everything out but he is adamant that he is not returning."

"Thanks Steve. Kurt should be here in a few minutes as well. He will be able to shed a lot more light on things and hopefully we can get through a bit better then. Do you want to head back? I've probably got this and there maybe some chaos going on as the whole class went AWOL. I think most of them returned to the dorms but there may be some mop up needed. I also need you to check in on Mike for me."

Steve looked at Blaine uncertainly. "What if Jack runs?"

Blaine shrugged. "Steve you know as well as I do, Jack is 17 years old and so we can't force him to do anything. If he doesn't want to come back and he's not actively in danger of hurting himself or someone else, he is free to go."

Steve looked resigned at this fact. It was one of the hardest pills to swallow once the kids they worked with turned 17. Expecting distressed adolescents to make the best choices for themselves by giving them the freedom of adults often felt really cruel. However, legally Jack had the right to make his own choices. Blaine just hoped he could help him make some safe ones now.

Together Blaine and Steve walked back to the tree stump. Blaine was acutely aware that Jack was watching his every move and he squinted up in to the setting sun to gaze at the shadowy figure above him.

"Hey buddy. How's it going?"

"Fuck off, Blaine. You know how it's going. I'm not coming back and you can't make me."

Blaine decided to ignore the cursing and remove the audience that Jack was clearly playing up to. He turned back to Steve once more and nodded towards him and the other counselor. "I really have this. I will be fine."

Just then a groan could be heard from further up the tree. "God, here comes the rainbow reinforcement. Can't you and your boyfriend find another pet project?"

Blaine shut his eyes and focused on letting the insults roll off his back. He felt a hand land on his shoulder and opened one eye to Steve smirking down at him. "Are you sure? He's on great form."

Blaine felt a shard of self-doubt shoot through him but at that moment he saw Kurt bound up still looking red faced and flustered. It almost made Blaine laugh out loud. He didn't think he had ever seen Kurt looking so disheveled in public. He caught Kurt's eye and Kurt shot him a silent threat to dare him to comment on his current state. Blaine let a smile creep over his face and turned once more to Steve.

"I'm sure. We'll see you later."

* * *

Silence reigned while Kurt, Blaine and Jack watched the two counselors leave the park.

"Now what?" asked Jack from up on high.

"You tell us," Blaine quipped and started to climb the tree stump to the first crook. He hoped that this way by being both closer to Jack, and cutting off his easiest escape route, that Jack would actually start to interact with him on a level.

Jack just stared down at him and then peered around a thick branch to look at Kurt slightly mockingly. "You coming up too?"

"No way," responded Kurt. "These boots are leather and I am not scraping them on any tree branch. It was bad enough legging it out here quickly, I'm sure I now have blisters the size of Antarctica on my foot."

Blaine rolled his eyes at the drama. "You know you could wear more practical shoes to work."

Kurt looked horrified. "After all these years, it's like you don't even know me at all."

The men were interrupted by a small stick that was hurled down at them both. "Hey, you guys are meant to be focusing on me remember? The Klaine Show is an after hours special."

Blaine looked up at Jack in amusement. "The Klaine Show?"

Jack shifted so that his body was now blocking the sun and Blaine could actually see his face clearly. Jack looked like he was enjoying himself a bit too much now.

"Yeah. You guys should totally see yourselves. It's sickening." Jack graphically mimed vomiting in to a make believe bucket.

"Thanks Jack," both Blaine and Kurt responded.

"So…" Kurt started. "I'm cold and you are doing a weird overgrown monkey impression. What about we head back, get some food and then talk about things in Blaine's office where there is heating?"

"NO! What part of I am not going back do you not understand? I'm not a kid that you can just act like everything's OK with and I'll just forget and go along with you. I'm not stupid. Those fucking bitches… I won't go anywhere near them. You SAW what they did. You were THERE and you did NOTHING to stop them."

Blaine watched Kurt look like he had been smacked in the mouth. He was about to jump in but Kurt responded first.

"Jack, I am so sorry. You are right. What happened in Glee today was god awful. If I could do anything to change what happened I would. Please don't think that I am not planning on going at all the kids with both barrels blazing. It was absolutely unacceptable."

Jack did not respond to that and so Blaine chipped in. "Kurt's right, Jack. There is no excuse for what happened and all the staff will be taking it very seriously…"

"For fuck's sake," Jack cut over Blaine. "Like you are any better than Kurt? You are meant to protect me but yet you make me say all that humiliating stuff to Mike and now he knows that I am a weak fairy and he and his mates can make my life hell too. In fact, I bet this was all his idea."

Blaine gulped. Jack was so good at making him feel totally inadequate at everything he was trying to do. This was not a feeling he was used to.

Kurt stepped in. "Jack, I know how you feel right now. You are angry at the World and at everyone in it. I know, because I've been there. I have a terrible temper when it gets going and I lash out and say horrible things about the people I care about the most, who try their hardest to help me. I know that Mike did not set you up. He was devastated by what happened today and tried to stop it by letting me know what was happening. I have already apologized for not being quicker off the mark to protect you. And don't blame Blaine for doing his job and for trying to help you come to terms with the things that have gone wrong. You'll just be more embarrassed at yourself when you calm down and you can finally see things the right way up."

Blaine looked at Kurt in amazement. He had come so far from the guy who had walked in to TH in October as fresh meat. He looked supremely confident now, channeling his Rachel and Quinn "bitch mode" handling techniques. Ten years on, they were still extremely effective.

Blaine looked up at Jack, who was now looking away from them both.

"Come on buddy," Blaine started. "It's freezing. I can see you shivering from here. Please can we go back and talk about this? It's not like you would get very far at the moment if you did decide to leave. You have no money and no coat on you and I know I'm hungry so I'm sure you are too."

Jack stayed where he was but rubbed his arms with his hands as though allowing himself to acknowledge for the first time that he was actually really cold.

Then he said in a small voice, "Blaine, is it all starting over again?"

Blaine took a moment to respond. "No buddy, I don't think so. From what Mike said, this has nothing to do with you being gay and everything to do with the others feeling that you hurt him. I think that this is far easier to fix. Mike said that he was going to go set the record straight but he clearly didn't have time to talk to anyone before Glee. I'm sure once they realize what they did, they'll be sorry and everything will go back to normal."

Jack looked at him but did not answer and Blaine crossed his fingers discreetly in his sleeve. He wasn't that confident in what he was saying but he hoped that he was convincing. He thought that the first priority was to get Jack back safely and from there they could figure things out. He avoided Kurt's gaze however as he couldn't stand the idea of somebody seeing through his confident front at this point.

Slowly, grudgingly, Jack climbed down out of the tree and Blaine moved out of the way for him. When both his feet were on the ground he looked up at Blaine who was still in the tree and said, "They are all bastards, you know?"

Blaine glanced at Kurt. "I know it feels like that now. The choices they made were shitty but I think they will come around and we'll sort it out."

Kurt met Blaine's eyes looking concerned. Blaine knew that he was reassuring Jack now about things that he had no control over. Even with staff intervention, or possibly because of it, there would be no saying if the situation would get better or worse. Being labeled as a loser in High School was bad enough but being unpopular and unliked with tough teens in a small residential setting could be toxic.

Kurt leaned forward though and put one arm around Jack pulling him in to his warmth. "I'm worried that you are too cold. Please let's go back and get you warmed up before you get sick."

Jack turned in to Kurt's arms, clearly surprising him, and turned the simple gesture in to a tight hug. Blaine couldn't help but notice how small and fragile Jack looked even when compared with someone as thin and lanky as Kurt. He bit his lip wondering if they really would be able to make TH a safe space for Jack once again. Kurt looked at him questioningly over Jack's shoulder. He was clearly very worried too.

Blaine hoped fervently that he and Kurt were just being overly dramatic and this would blow over quickly. It wasn't as if there was an obvious alternative choice on the table. Clearly the warmth, food and money argument had won Jack over for the time being but Blaine felt himself questioning how much stress Jack could handle at this point.

After a short while, Jack released his hold of Kurt and turned to Blaine. "I'm sorry for being an asshole. I know you are trying to help. I just hate this all, you know?"

"I know, buddy," Blaine said and shot him a hopefully comforting smile.

Slowly Blaine and Kurt walked Jack back to TH together. Not a single word was spoken by any of the trio.

* * *

_Please review... : )_


	26. Chapter 26

_AN: Hello all. Thank you so much for all the feedback._

_This chapter took alot longer than I was expecting as it just would not flow and I false started on it three times. I'm quite happy with it now though. _

_Fluff and smut (mostly!)... enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 26

A few days passed surprisingly uneventfully in what Blaine termed to Kurt "the uneasy truce". The Glee kids minus Jack and Mike had been called in to a sit down with the Director of TH to discuss the unacceptable bullying that had occurred. Each kid had been assigned chores and sanctions to make amends for their part in the fiasco. They also each had to write a note to Jack and Mike, apologising for hurting them both and getting involved in an issue that had nothing to do with them.

At first, when Kurt heard about that piece of the consequence he laughed out loud. There was no way he could imagine these kids writing any kind of apology letter at all. Blaine had smiled at his amusement and then wagered him twenty bucks that not only would each kid follow through but that each letter would be appropriate if not heart felt. Kurt scoffed at him openly and took the bet, assuming that this was the easiest money he had ever earned.

Needless to say that he was totally floored when two days later Blaine produced eight handwritten notes to Mike and Jack. Kurt was even more impressed when he read the contents of the notes and it was clear that some of the kids, admittedly not all, had actually put a great deal of thought in to what they had written. There were even two that brought a tear to Kurt's eyes when he read about how guilty and ashamed the kids felt. Blaine explained that if the expectation is set that the kids will be respectful to each other and enforce it through sanctions then usually that is what happened.

Kurt had turned to Blaine after reading the letters and then asked if the incident was now all over but Blaine had responded noncommittally and seemed surprisingly disheartened. Jack and Mike too continued to appear quieter and more withdrawn than usual. In fact the whole energy of the Glee class was weird. Kurt couldn't help but feel that something was about to give.

* * *

That Thursday morning Kurt sauntered in to his Dad's tyre shop in his overalls. Burt was leaning over the engine of a car and messing with the carburettor. He stood up quickly when he saw his son.

"Hey Dad. Do you want a hand?"

If Burt was surprised by the question he did not comment but instead pointed to two cars in the back of the shop and outlined the specific issues that needed fixing. Kurt just nodded and went to work quickly. He had forgotten how therapeutic he found messing with cars could be. It always made him think about happy long summers spent with his Dad learning and bonding over the finer points of auto mechanics. So he whiled away the next few hours replacing brake pads, spark plugs and running basic MOT checks.

It was not until a hand shot out under his nose with a cup of coffee that Kurt even realized how long it had been since he had stood up straight. He groaned a little as he righted himself and smiled up at his father gratefully.

"So what are you doing here?" Burt asked bluntly. "Don't you have that class of yours in a bit?"

"Yup. I just thought I would give you a hand. It's been a while and I missed it."

Burt looked at him as if he had taken leave of his senses. "Kurt, you only ever come here when you are upset or stressed and need something physical to take your mind off things. What's up?"

Kurt thought about denying these sentiments but then sighed.

"It's this kid at TH. His name's Jack. I mentioned him to you before after the Wicked event a few months ago."

Burt nodded and took a drink of his own coffee.

"He's a really good kid but he seems to have been born under an unlucky star. I really thought that Blaine and I were getting through to him and that he was finally in a safe place where he could start have things go right. Instead things have blown up at the home and the other kids have turned on him. I know Blaine is worried that he's going to leave and go back to the streets."

"Can he do that?"

"Yeah, supposedly. I didn't know this but although the official age of majority in Ohio is 18, it seems that once you are over 16, unless a parent actively steps forward to stop you, you can pretty much make your own choices. The police will not force you to do anything against your will unless you are at immediate risk of harming yourself or someone else."

"So where are this kid's folks?"

"His Mum died a few years ago and his Dad has dropped the ball. He has two other children to worry about and I think Jack is just kind of collateral damage. Also he's gay and I don't think that went down too well. It's so sad."

"Hmm…so he can walk on to the streets at any time?"

"Yes, that's what Blaine said. I know it's really bugging him. He's trying to play it down and pretend that he's not worried but I know he is."

Burt nodded. "Jesus… the stuff kids go through these days. At least he's got Blaine… and you too Kurt. I hope you know how proud I am of you in the last few months. I know it hasn't been easy – even if Blaine has sweetened the ride a little."

"Dad!" Kurt blushed a little and then smiled a bashful grin while chewing his lip awkwardly. He felt about 16 again. He wondered if the teenage angst that he was subjected to daily was rubbing off.

Burt just grinned at the awkwardness of his son and then moved on back to the car he was working on. Kurt watched him go and reminded himself once more just how lucky he had been. In the roulette wheel of fathers he had definitely hit the jackpot. Slowly he turned back to the engine he was working over and continued plotting his afternoon Glee class in his head.

* * *

That night Kurt pulled up outside Blaine's apartment. He was more excited than he wanted to admit as it had been a few nights since they had been together. Kurt was reminded of the sleepovers that he would have with Blaine in High School after Kurt had returned to McKinley from Dalton. This was a small case of role reversal as this time he was the one who had packed the overnight bag. He was also more than a little amused to be sleeping over on a school night. It all felt very taboo.

Kurt smiled broadly when Blaine appeared at his front door looking freshly showered, with wet hair and his glasses on. Even in comfortable, casual mode Blaine was smoking hot. He grabbed Kurt by the front of his shirt and pulled him towards him in a hungry kiss smooshing their lips and teeth together hard.

When he was released, Kurt raised up a brown bag of takeout. "I believe the bet was $20 so we are feasting like kings on Chinese food."

"Perfect," Blaine took the bag from him and immediately started rummaging through it while leading Kurt up the stairs. He let out a holler of delight when he found the prawn crackers, and shoved the rest of the bag under one arm, while he chomped noisily all the way up the stairs.

"Honestly, no one would ever believe that you are worse than Finn when it comes to Chinese food."

Blaine turned to him in mock shock, "Nobe, I'b nod…" he tried to get out around his mouthful of crackers.

Kurt scrunched up his nose, feigning disgust. "Gross…" He turned to the counter and started to unpack the rest of the bag, hunting through Blaine's cupboards for plates and utensils. "And to think I was just telling myself how amazingly hot you are. What a sorry disappointment."

He suddenly found himself grabbed from behind and swung around in to Blaine's arms. Blaine meshed his lips with Kurt in what was meant to be a toe curling kiss, but Kurt quickly pulled away laughing. "Mushed up prawn crackers are not selling your case Blaine… yeuch!" Kurt swiped at his mouth with the back of his hand dramatically.

Blaine rolled his eyes at him and then took a swig of his beer that he had left on the side, before grabbing Kurt back once more and trying again. "Better?" he asked coyly with one eyebrow raised. Kurt looked at him lovingly straight in the eyes. "Perfect," he answered.

Blaine smiled again and then went back to kissing Kurt's neck and nuzzling his hair while Kurt continued to set out dinner. Kurt was just about to give up and ask if Blaine just wanted to skip the food and go on to dessert in the bedroom when Blaine's stomach growled loudly. Both men burst out laughing. "Let's eat quickly," Blaine said. "I'm not sure that I can keep my hands off you for too long."

Kurt flushed but happily obliged and dished up a large plate for Blaine and a smaller plate for himself. They settled on stools at the breakfast bar and ate at a respectable pace, in companionable silence, holding hands and smirking at each other whenever they made eye contact. The sexual energy in the room fizzed tangibly between them and both men seemed happy to let it build while working their way through a delicious assortment of kung po chicken, mushu pork and vegetarian spring rolls.

When Kurt stood to clear the dishes Blaine jumped up with him. "Oh hell no…" Blaine said, channelling his inner Mercedes. "That can wait."

He pulled Kurt backwards with him to the couch and sent Kurt sprawling on to the cushions. Then he pulled off his own shirt and walked towards Kurt looking dangerous. Kurt heard an involuntary whimper escape from his own lips and quickly removed his shirt before settling back along the couch and holding his arms out to welcome Blaine to him.

Blaine launched himself at Kurt and landed on top of him looking ready to eat him alive. Kurt felt his insides turn to mush. He leaned up hungrily and pulled Blaine face close to his, pushing his tongue in to Blaine's mouth and relishing the tastes and sensations that his explorations caused.

He felt Blaine's fingers move to his chest and caress and pinch his nipples. He growled in to Blaine's mouth and began biting on his bottom lip in return. Quickly Blaine pulled back. "You are so fucking hot," he said as he began to move down Kurt's chest, biting and kissing as he went. Kurt tangled his fingers in Blaine's curls with one hand and ran his nails gently over Blaine's back with the other.

Blaine looked up at him with a smirk when he reached Kurt's belly button. Their eyes met as Blaine moved his tongue slowly and began to stab it rhythmically in to Kurt's belly button. Kurt groaned and arched his back up in to the sensation, throwing his head back and biting his lip. This was one of his lesser known hotspots and Blaine was working it like magic.

Kurt found himself getting harder and began trying to rub his groin against Blaine's shoulder while Blaine continued to circle, lick and bite at his navel. He heard himself whimper aloud at the stimulation and felt himself becoming increasingly turned on. Then he felt hands at his hips pushing his pelvis back in to the couch, denying him the friction he was craving. Kurt groaned and looked down at Blaine in frustration.

Blaine gave one final swipe of his belly and then looked up Kurt with laughing eyes, before licking his way to the top of Kurt's pants. He then took the button in his teeth and managed to undo it without using his hands. Kurt was transfixed. He was certain that he had never seen anything sexier. His breath hitched when he then watched Blaine take the zipper in his mouth and pull that down slowly.

"Where the hell did you learn to undo a button with your teeth?" he asked.

Blaine laughed and yanked off Kurt's trousers and briefs in one quick move. "It was just a trick someone showed me once and I have been practicing. What did you think?"

"Fucking hot."

Blaine smiled and moved up to kiss him soundly on the lips.

Kurt could still feel the denim of Blaine's jeans between his legs and so physically manhandled Blaine over so that he was pressed in to the back of the sofa and made short work of removing his clothes.

He pinned Blaine roughly in the same position leaning his body weight against the other man to hold him in place and then sprawled along the couch in the other direction. He heard Blaine whimper when the realisation hit him that Kurt had moved them to the perfect 69 position.

"Is this OK?" Kurt asked, trying hard not to become fixated with the beautiful groin in front of him. He licked his lips and then bit at them as Blaine answered by taking one testicle in his mouth and sucking gently. Kurt groaned and moved forward to return the favour mouthing and sucking at all the skin he could find. He moved his hand up and down Blaine's cock until the desire became too much and the leaned up to take the beautiful length in his mouth.

This blowjob felt so different from that first one all those months ago. Now he could feel that his body was responding to every muscle flicker, shudder and sound that Blaine made. He let the sensations of what Blaine was doing to him merge with the care that he was giving back and became totally engrossed in the beauty of the connection that was fizzing between the two men.

The need and desire flared quickly and when Kurt felt Blaine gently push a finger inside of him, he knew that Blaine was getting close. He began to suck harder on Blaine's cock and massage his balls, rolling them gently in his hand. As he began to see white spots in front of his own eyes, he pushed his finger in to the patch of skin and nerve bundles just behind Blaine's balls. He heard the answering groan vibrate deep from within Blaine's throat and up and around his cock, now being worked expertly by Blaine's mouth. The vibrations, the sounds, the smells and the emotions sent a wave of nervous electricity shooting through Kurt's body and he felt his orgasm uncurl from deep within him. Blaine's finger pushed hard against his prostate and he felt himself shooting deep in to Blaine's mouth and throat.

He kept just enough conscious awareness going to receive the answering orgasm without choking and remembered to swallow hard around Blaine. Every drop tasted like coming home. It was a musky mixture that was all Blaine and so familiar that Kurt felt his eyes well up with emotion.

Gently he licked up all the remaining drops from the tip of Blaine's cock and then let him go, breathing heavily. He felt hands reaching down and urge him up and around. Slowly he pulled together enough energy to flip himself over and fell in to Blaine's arms holding the other man tight to him. Blaine responded by kissing him sloppily.

"Thank you Kurt, thank you… that was amazing."

Kurt smiled sleepily and returned the kisses allowing himself to float away drowsily on a post orgasmic high.

* * *

About twenty minutes later, he woke to Blaine gentling his fingers through Kurt's hair and peppering his jaw with kisses.

"Hey." Kurt yawned and stretched as best he could while cramped on one side of the couch.

"Hey yourself" Blaine smiled. "Are you lying on my glasses by any chance? I'm sure I was wearing them when we started this but I have no idea where they are now."

Kurt smirked. "I guess cuddling is over, huh?" He shifted his body weight around on the couch and experimentally attempted to feel if there were any bits of metal sticking in to him. "Nope, I don't think I'm lying on them."

He shifted slowly out of Blaine's embrace and rolled off the couch to a standing position before taking in the beautiful image of the thoroughly debauched man lying in front of him. He had red marks all over his torso and thigh area where Kurt had got a little carried away. Kurt found himself staring and hoping to capture this image in his brain for ever. Blaine gazed up at him completely confidently and then raised his hand signalling for a help up. Kurt obliged and then spied the glasses poking out from under one of the pillows.

"Here. All safe and sound."

Blaine leaned up and kissed him on his nose. "Perfect."

* * *

After the shower and a quick kitchen clean up, both men were lying on Blaine's bed listening to music. Blaine was idly reading some work documents and Kurt was resting his head on Blaine's chest and dreaming up a set list for the February concert.

Suddenly the peace and quiet was disturbed by Blaine's phone ringing. Kurt looked at the clock. It was now past midnight and he suddenly felt a strong sense of foreboding. It was unlikely that a call at this time would be good news. He looked over at Blaine, who had swung up off the bed to track down his phone.

"Hello?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"What time was he last seen?"

"Have you called the police? No I know… have you tried Mike? Are you sure he doesn't know anything?"

"OK."

"You'll keep me posted? Is there anything that I can do?"

"I know. OK. Will do. Thanks."

Blaine hung up and looked over at Kurt. Kurt's eyes filled with tears at the defeated body posture and devastated look in Blaine's eyes. He waited for Blaine to confirm his worst fears and found himself holding his breath. Blaine confirmed them in two words.

"Jack's gone."

* * *

_AN: *cackles evilly at the cliffhanger* Please review._


	27. Chapter 27

_AN: Happy Easter! You can thank the four day British long weekend for getting two chapters in three days. Also this chapter just flowed out of my brain really easily._

_Thank you so much for all the amazing feedback and a special thank you to Daybreaq for reccing this fic on kurt_blaine lj. I am so touched._

_This is probably less tasty than an Easter egg… but hopefully enjoyable none-the-less._

_Warning: There is a lot of swearing (contextually appropriate - I promise) in this chapter. _

* * *

Chapter 27

Blaine was livid with himself and furious with Jack. He had spent a lot of time with the kid this week trying to help him feel safe and settled once again but he had known deep down that he was not breaking through. Jack had said all the right things to him and let him hear what he wanted to hear but Blaine had been aware that he was hitting a wall and that Jack was not letting him all the way in.

The situation with the other kids had not eased up that week either. After the consequences all the kids, including Mike, were keeping their distance from Jack. Blaine felt that this was expected in some way as they were embarrassed and did not know how to react. Jack seemed to be interpreting it however as them hating him. No amount of persuasion from Blaine to the contrary appeared to be sinking in.

Still on the surface, Jack had appeared to be managing better. He attended all of his classes including Glee and had been friendly and smiley to all the staff members who had interacted with him. Blaine had wondered if he was being overly dramatic in his negative assessment and certainly others had intimated to him that he should relax. He definitely felt vindicated now that his gut instinct had been right. Sadly he would have paid a huge amount of money to have been wrong this time.

He could not bring himself to look at Kurt who was lying on his bed waiting for him to react to the news in some way. Blaine wanted some time to process this on his own.

"Blaine?" Kurt sounded timid in his open question.

Blaine resisted the urge to leave the bedroom. He was feeling really fragile and vulnerable. As much as he loved Kurt and as great as their connection currently was, there was a huge pile of shit that they had not even begun to start digging through. The intensity of this week meant that they had glossed over a lot of their own difficulties and had simply moved forward to the comfortable groove that they used to inhabit.

Right now though, that was not enough. He needed his soulmate and confidante. He didn't know if he fully trusted Kurt to be that for him again yet. The broken connection was still in the early stages of being mended.

He looked over at the beautiful, half naked man on the bed and his heart ached for the loss of the college boy that he had loved wholeheartedly. Right now he yearned for that creature. The one in whose hands that he could place all of his vulnerability and insecurity and just know with his whole being that he would not be hurt or betrayed. He was afraid to admit just how much he had been shaken by Kurt's revelations of his recent past. Although Blaine was willing to give everything he had to work through it, he wasn't sure that he was ready to take the total leap of faith, and trust this man with everything just yet.

He sensed rather than saw Kurt get off the bed and cross the floor to him. He felt arms come around him from behind and pull him back in to a hug. He felt Kurt's chin on his shoulder and kisses being pressed in to his skin. He felt his own body relax and start to mould back in to the caress, taking comfort from the heat pressing up against him.

"I'm so sorry, Blaine. I know this is really hard," Kurt murmured in to his neck. Blaine felt overwhelming, devastated tears well up from deep within him. He lowered his head and just started to sob as Kurt moved around him and pulled him in to a proper hug.

"I love you. I love you. I love you." Kurt just kept repeating this mantra over and over in to Blaine's curls and close to his ear as Blaine sobbed out his disappointment and fear for Jack's safety and anger at his own helplessness. Slowly he brought his arms up around Kurt and pulled him tighter to him. "I love you. I love you. I love you." Kurt's words just surrounded him like a blanket and he allowed the cocoon of safety to furl around him.

After a while, slowly, he let go and Kurt released him from the hug. Blaine smiled gratefully up at Kurt as he wiped his tears away and then reached out to kiss him deeply in gratitude.

"So what do we do now?" Kurt asked.

Blaine moved back to the bed and threw himself down on it. "There's not much we can do. Jack has made his choice. He is free to go."

Kurt's incredulous, sharp response dug deep in to his depressed, numbed brain. "That's a ridiculous response, Blaine! The kid is 17 years old and traumatised. It is December in Columbus and freezing. You and I both know that he has nowhere to go. What if he's wandering the streets? What if he's gone back to that place? What if he finds someone else who hurts him? I won't accept that answer."

Blaine sighed deeply. "Kurt, the police have been informed. They say they will keep an eye out for him and try to talk him back if they see him."

"That's not enough!" Kurt exploded. "Blaine Anderson, who are you right now? Are you really going to give up on him that easily? I thought you cared about him!"

"FUCK OFF, KURT," Blaine felt himself losing control. "I DO care about him. You don't think this is killing me? I've spent every moment that I could this week trying to convince him to stay and make a good choice for himself. I even went so far as to give him some names of other homes that we could look at if he wanted to leave but not go back to the streets. He told me that I was the only reason that he would stay at TH and that he wouldn't "subject himself to more bullshit somewhere else". Clearly I let him down. Clearly I was not enough to keep him safe."

"LISTEN to yourself. This is IT Blaine. This is fucking Blaine Anderson taking the World's woes on to your own shoulders one more time and then blaming yourself when your super miraculous powers fail you. How can you possibly be arrogant enough to think that you alone could save this kid? His issues are far bigger than you and what you can control. This is a fucking replay of what you did to us in college when you gave up on us and sent me packing to LA. As soon as you thought that I had decided to leave you, you gave up and stopped fighting for me. I will NOT let you do this to Jack."

"That is fucking unfair, Kurt."

"Is it? 'Cause from where I am sitting it's not only fair but completely accurate."

Blaine stormed out of the bedroom at that moment, slamming the door behind him. He threw himself on the couch that had witnessed both the worst moment of their relationship months ago, and the last magical bout of healing that had taken place just a few hours before. He buried his head in the cushions that still smelt of Kurt and sex, love and acceptance. He tried to get his brain around all the harsh things that Kurt had said and although his conscious was coming up with 110 reasons why they were completely wrong and unfair, his heart felt like an ice shard of truth had pierced it. Kurt couldn't be right about this. He just couldn't because that would mean that Blaine was not only wrong the first time, but also that he was about to repeat the same mistake with a lost, lonely, desperate 17 year old boy.

After a number of minutes, Blaine heard the bedroom door open and footsteps track across the floor towards him. Then he felt hands on his shoulders, rubbing gently in to his skin and kissing his back.

"I'm sorry. I was too blunt." Kurt said as he kissed his way across the breadth of Blaine's shoulders. Blaine just lay still, not quite ready to face him yet. Finally when the other man did not leave him, he turned slowly on to his back to face Kurt, who was kneeling on the floor looking at him anxiously.

"You know, I did everything I could for Jack." Blaine whispered aloud. "I can't force him to make a different decision." He then spoke more clearly leaning up on his arms and looking Kurt directly in the eyes. "This isn't Hollywood you know. It's not like a film script where you can force people to make the choices that you want them to make. Not everybody can be manipulated in to doing what you want them to do."

"I know," Kurt responded gently without taking offence from the barbed comment. "I know you did your best but I'm not sure that Jack has truly made this decision. Blaine, he's like me. He's too hot headed and stubborn for his own good. Once he gets an idea he jumps on it no matter the consequences and now that he has chosen this, he is probably bitterly regretting it but is too proud to turn back. I know full well just where that stubbornness has taken me and my life and I think we need to give him one last chance to make a better choice."

"What other option do we have for him though?" Blaine asked desperately. "He's not wrong about TH. Those kids won't let him forget anytime soon and I don't think it would be healthy for him to go back. He doesn't have the inner strength to deal with more torment from them. I guess we could try another home somewhere but…"

Blaine looked at Kurt who was gnawing on his lip anxiously. "I have an idea but it's probably completely crazy and I don't even want to put it on the table until I've explored whether it's an option first."

Blaine looked at Kurt quizzically. "What are you thinking about?"

Kurt just shook his head. "I need you to trust me on this and let me make some calls before I tell you. I promise if it doesn't work I'll let you know what I tried. Right now though, let's try to find him first. The best ideas in the World will be useless if we can't find him."

Blaine looked at Kurt thoughtfully.

"Come on Blaine," Kurt coaxed. "Let's go out and look for him. What could we possibly lose by trying?"

Slowly Blaine nodded his head and then went off to find some appropriate clothes and car keys and his wallet.

* * *

They had been driving around for an hour and it was dark and bitterly cold. Kurt had cranked the heat up in Blaine's car to max but still the cold was seeping in through the glass and the vents.

"You need better insulation in here, Jesus…" Kurt said as he blew heat in to his hands to warm them up.

Blaine just let the comment go. They were both tired and frustrated and the hunt so far had got them nowhere. They had called TH but the police had not had any sighting of him and none of the other kids knew anything about the plan. Mike had told a counselor that Jack had stopped talking to all the other kids after the Grinch day and so no one knew anything. Blaine was planning on hauling the counseling staff over the coals at the next staff meeting for missing as blatant a sign of Jack's emotional state as that.

Currently right now he had one counselor searching Jack's room with a fine toothcomb for any clue as to where he may have gone. He had another counselor digging back through his file to find any indication of where the squat was located as he had a sinking feeling that Jack may have returned there out of desperation. He was so angry with himself that he had never pushed Jack for more details on locations before.

Suddenly Blaine saw a familiar sign up ahead and Kurt squawked in surprise at the sudden sharp turn to the left that the car swung in to. He turned to Blaine in confusion.

"Dunkin' Donuts? Really?"

Blaine shrugged. "I need coffee." He reached in his pocket to pull out his wallet and went to pull out a $20 bill. Then he stopped, staring at his wallet in confusion. He had definitely gone to the bank that morning and so he should have had $100 in his wallet…but then he hadn't needed any money because he had lunch at TH and Kurt paid for dinner…

"That little SHIT! He swiped my wallet during my session with him this morning. FUCK!"

Kurt looked at him in surprise. "Hold on. How much did he take? I mean that's actually good news isn't it?"

Blaine looked at him as though he had gone mad. "No Blaine, that means he has money to get somewhere safe and warm tonight."

"Yeah, I guess. Just if I had looked in my wallet earlier maybe I would have put two and two together…"

"True but, we are here now, so focus on what this means," Kurt responded calmly. "He has money, which means he has the ability to travel and look after himself. Where would he go?"

Blaine looked at Kurt and began to put himself in Jack's shoes. "He wouldn't go to the squat with that amount of money because he might get mugged for it. It would be too risky."

"From what I know of Jack," Kurt answered, "he wouldn't waste the money. He left after dinner right, so he had eaten and had a full belly. So possibly would he try to find a hostel or a safe place to stay?"

Blaine was lost in thought for a minute. "No. I don't think so. He would wait until he had no other alternative to spend the money than on that. But with the money opening up travel options… Kurt what if he went home?"

Kurt frowned at him for a minute. "He was talking to me a lot about home and his father and how guilty he felt for being such a disappointment to him. I guess... maybe? But he seemed pretty angry at him didn't he?... after all the Tom stuff?"

"Yeah, but remember... he also had kind of convinced himself that maybe that was part of Tom's manipulations too and maybe his Dad hadn't totally let him down," Blaine said.

"Yes," Kurt replied. "He was also really open with me about how jealous he was about my relationship with my father."

"Shit, I bet he has been building this fantasy of a happy reunion up in his head. I know from his previous teacher that actually his Dad did seem to drop off the radar after that summer when Tom was on the scene. I doubt that things would be that positive if Jack just ended up on the doorstep."

Kurt bit his lip. "Poor kid. I hope we are wrong and that if he has gone to his father's that his father will buck up and be a Dad."

"Yeah right," Blaine responded with far too much cynicism and bitterness built over years of wishing a similar fantasy about his own father. He caught Kurt looking over at him sympathetically and felt his jaw clench as ground his teeth involuntarily.

"Look, Blaine, why don't you go in to Dunkin' Donuts and get your coffee. You can bully the counselor at TH for his Dad's address as well. I need to make a call so I will wait for you here." Kurt handed Blaine a $10 bill. "Make mine cream with two sugars."

Blaine looked at him suspiciously but Kurt just smiled beatifically back at him. "Trust, remember?"

Blaine rolled his eyes, got out of the car and went in to the restaurant.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, they were on their way to Westerville. This was a coincidence they had not been expecting. It turned out that Jack's father lived about a mile away from Dalton Academy. Blaine watched the streets become very familiar around them as they passed landmarks and houses that both he and Kurt had passed frequently while they were at school.

Both men sat in silence as Blaine drove past the gates of Dalton itself. Some of the dorm buildings were still partially lit and they could just make out the shape of the formidable towers at the front in the moonlight.

"This is so weird," Kurt stated for both of them. "I haven't been back since you graduated but it hasn't changed at all."

Blaine reached over and took Kurt's hand in his while concentrating on the road and the steering. It felt good to have this moment of connection again after their argument earlier. It felt a bit like being regrounded and reminded of just how deep their roots went.

"What are we going to do if he's not there and we are wrong?" Kurt asked.

"I've been thinking about that," Blaine answered as he pulled up a few houses down from Jack's father. "I think that we should ask his father to enforce parental responsibility and try to put pressure on the police to find him. He is the only person who could step Jack up from runaway teen status to actual missing person, by making a fuss at this point."

Kurt nodded and squeezed Blaine's hand. "OK is it ridiculous that I am actually kind of nervous right now?"

Blaine laughed. "Not at all. I'm kind of freaking out over here too. But what's the worst that could happen? He slams the door in our face? We are just two guys who care about his son and are just doing our best to make sure he is OK. I'm sure it will be fine."

Blaine heard Kurt blow out a calming breath. "OK. Let's do it."

* * *

_AN: T__o all of you worried about the 30 chapters that I said this would be… It looks like I have underestimated slightly again… we'll see. : )_

_Please review..._


	28. Chapter 28

_AN: A new chapter! The muses have grabbed me by the shoulders and shaken me hard. They would not let go until this was written. Maybe the collective comments from all my lovely reviewers asking me to update quickly, had something to do with it!_

_Thank you as always for your encouraging and quick responses to my chapters. Your comments are very touching and I am feeling amazingly overwhelmed at this point. 400 reviews? Really? I didn't think that anyone would read this as it was a future fic based around an original character. I am so touched by all of your kindness._

_And maybe a little inspired by the promo for tonight's episode… EEK! __And weirdly I just happened upon Darren Criss in a Livestream Q&A just now – best luck ever!_

* * *

Chapter 28

Kurt looked at his watch anxiously. It was 5 am and really way too early to justify banging on a stranger's door. He wondered if he should remind Blaine of this basic rule of etiquette, but one look at Blaine's face showed that there was no way that he was going to be able to handle a delay of a few hours. They both needed to know for their own sanity if Jack was safe.

They made their way to the front door of a well kept, detached, suburban house. Kurt noted a distinct lack of female touches and decorations. There were no flowers in the garden or pots by the door. The welcome mat was purely functional and there was no family name on the outside of the house. In fact there was no outward sign that there were any kids in the house at all.

Kurt watched Blaine steel his shoulders firmly and ring the doorbell. Kurt bit his lip hard and felt a wave of anxious energy shoot through him. He fought down a desperate urge to run away. After a minute Kurt was sure that the door was not going to be answered and he genuinely did not know if he was relieved or disappointed. Then just as he was about to suggest to Blaine they leave, they heard footsteps behind the door and a tall, thin man with dark, peppered gray hair opened the door. His build was similar to Jack but only his mouth bore any resemblance. It was true then that Jack was his mother's son.

He looked warily at them but Kurt's heart rose in hope as he realised the man was fully dressed and did not look as though he had been to bed yet tonight.

"Can I help you?"

Blaine stepped forward with his TH photo ID and let the man look over the card. "Mr Connor?We are sorry to disturb you so early in the morning. My name is Blaine Anderson and I am a Social Worker from a children's home called Trevor's House in Columbus. This is my colleague Kurt Hummel. We are looking for your son Jack who has been a resident at the home for the past five months. He disappeared today without letting anyone know where he was going and we are worried for his safety."

Mr. Connor looked them over assessingly and actually took Blaine's ID, holding it up to the light of the hallway to scrutinize it better. "OK. Well you had better come in then."

Kurt caught Blaine's encouraging glance back and closed his eyes hopefully. They were led in to a neatly kept home and taken through a tidy but plain lounge and in to a kitchen area at the back. There sitting at the kitchen table was a very pale, tired and defeated Jack staring bemusedly at them.

A wave of relief flooded through him and Kurt felt a strong impulse to run over to the boy and hug him hard. The atmosphere in the kitchen however was so tense that he held his ground standing near the door and let Blaine take charge.

Mr Connor spoke up. "Jack arrived here at about 10pm. He said that he had been staying at this Trevor's House place but said that he wasn't going back. He has asked to stay here but I don't know what to do. Are you here to take him back?"

Kurt was taken aback at the direct question but Blaine stepped forward looking supremely confident and in control. "Do you mind if I sit down?" he asked. Mr Connor nodded looking clearly uncomfortable. Blaine moved over to sit next to Jack who was avoiding his eyes.

"No, Mr Connor, in answer to your question. Jack is 17. If he decides that he is not coming back to TH then that is entirely his choice. We were just all really worried about him and Kurt and I are here to make sure that he is safe."

Kurt watched Jack physically slump in his chair. He wondered if Jack was hoping that Blaine was going to take this decision away from him. His heart ached for the poor boy looking so lost and alone.

Mr Connor did not seem happy. "We have been going back and forth, Mr Anderson. I'm not sure that we are getting anywhere so maybe you can help us move forward. Jack is my son and I love him, even if I am devastated by the choices that he has made in the past year. I am relieved to hear that he has been with you in that home rather than with that with bastard that he left with. I'll be honest, I did not know what to do about that man and Jack was refusing to listen to me so I let him make his own choices. I felt that it was an important life lesson to let him make his own mistakes."

Kurt felt his stomach churn with the blasé manner that Jack's father said this. He hoped that Jack had not told his Dad everything as otherwise the lack of concern he was expressing would be unforgivable. Kurt clenched his hands in to fists behind his back and attempted to lean nonchalantly against the kitchen cabinets trying to hide the anger that was churning in him. Blaine looked concerned but calm. Kurt was impressed at the hold Blaine was maintaining on his emotions. Maybe he should consider acting as an alternate career option. Jack just stayed quiet, staring at his fingers on the table.

Blaine spoke up. "Mr Connor, you said that you both were stuck. What can I help with?"

Mr Connor sat down heavily in the third seat at the table and looked at Jack sadly for a minute. "I have two other children besides Jack. My youngest, my daughter, Laney was distraught when Jack left last year. It was too much loss for her so soon after her mother. She cried for weeks and we all went through hell trying to pull ourselves together," Blaine nodded with understanding. "So I have told Jack that if he stays then it has to be permanent. There will be no second chance."

"That's fair I think," Blaine said. "What do you think Jack?"

Kurt saw that Jack was tense and clearly distressed. "Ask him about the conditions," he spat out.

Kurt saw a flicker of confusion shoot across Blaine's brow but he turned back to Mr Connor and looked at him questioningly.

Mr Connor looked flushed with anger. "Of course, there are conditions Jack. How do you expect to waltz in here after 15 months and for there not to be any conditions? This is a family and you are the eldest, that's just the way it is."

Jack didn't say anything but instead physically turned his body away from his father. Blaine met Kurt's eyes across the room. Kurt felt a feeling of dread creep in.

Mr Connor pulled himself up to his full height in his seat. "I gave Jack three conditions. 1. That he pulls his weight around the house. I expect him to help look after his younger brother and sister and to take a share of the chores." Blaine and Kurt both nodded. That seemed reasonable.

"2. Jack needs to return to his High School."

Kurt winced and Blaine looked as if he was about to speak but Jack leapt in. "I've already told you Dad. I can't go back to that school. I was eaten alive there. I was bullied every day."

"Jack, come on, that's not true. You had a great time with the theater group. You loved freshman year. I understand that things got harder after that but that happens to everyone in High School at some point. Besides, there is no choice here. I can't afford that preppy Dalton school down the road and there aren't any other High Schools in the area. You have to go to school. That is non-negotiable."

"Dad, I'm begging you. You have no idea what happened there. You don't know how bad it got."

"I know you made some silly choices with some video on the internet but those kids will have forgotten about that by now Jack. It's yesterday's news. Besides most of those kids will have graduated..."

"YOU DON'T GET IT!" Jack shouted. His father raised a hand to quiet him quickly. Jack dropped his volume immediately, respectful of his sleeping siblings. "You don't understand."

"Well help me to. What am I not understanding? Come on Jack we had been going around in circles about this all night. Tell me what you want me to know."

Kurt watched Jack clam up. Blaine looked at him very concerned.

"See?" Mr Connor continued, "this is what we have been dealing with all night. Mr Anderson, my son must go to school and I think it would be good for him to slay his demons by going back to his old school. You and I both know it won't be as bad as he fears. Don't you think that this will help him grow up a bit?"

"Actually Mr Connor, I don't think that Jack can cope with regular High School at this point," Blaine calmly responded. "At TH he has been working with our specialist teachers in a small supportive environment to help him learn. This appears to be working for him and he will probably need some provision like that for the rest of this academic year. If you want, I could certainly help you and Jack explore some options in the local area and look at alternative funding sources."

Mr Connor looked shocked. "Why would he need that? My son is a smart boy, Mr Anderson. I can assure you that until last year he was near the top of his year with a GPA of 3.7. He certainly does not need a special school. He is very capable."

"SHUT UP." Jack shouted. "All of you, stop talking as though I am not here. I am NOT going back to that school and that is final."

Mr Connor looked resigned and Kurt could tell by his body language that he was giving up. Blaine tried to save the situation. "Jack, come on. Your Dad is right, you do need to be in education and I'm sure once he knows everything about last year he will understand about your last school. I would be more than happy to help you guys find a good compromise."

Jack whipped his head towards Blaine and muttered to him menacingly through clenched teeth, "You haven't heard his last condition yet."

Blaine and Kurt turned to Mr Connor concerned. Jack's reaction was so out of character. It was as though he was literally spitting with rage.

Mr Connor looked at his son in surprise. "Oh well, I was just saying…um… so condition number 3… I don't know if you know Mr Anderson but my son is gay?" Kurt felt his heart start to thud heavily in his chest. Blaine pasted the blank stoic look on his face that Kurt hated. He nodded to Mr Connor to continue.

"Well, you have to understand, my other children have been through enough. I've told Jack that he needs to keep that behaviour out of this house. I don't want him to bring home any men and I certainly don't want him talking about those things to his brother and sister. Whatever he has done while he has been gone is his business but while he is living in my house he will come home every night and be a part of this family. There will be no funny business otherwise he will have to go."

Kurt felt pure anger well up within him. Silence fell in the kitchen thickly. No one moved for a minute until Mr Connor started to fidget with awkwardness. He stood up awkwardly and moved away from the table to the cooker, putting some distance between himself and his boy.

"I want to be clear," he said scrabbling against the quiet, "if you had met this Tom, Mr Anderson, you would understand my position. My son was out of control and it was impossible to live with him. When he left I read up on homosexuality a bit and I know that it is not something that he can help. I just need him to control himself around the younger two. They are very impressionable you see."

Kurt began taking in deep quiet yoga breaths to keep himself calm and contained. Blaine's face had developed a slight flush to it but otherwise there was no outward sign of any impact from the previous comments.

"Mr Connor," Blaine started, "what happened between Jack and Tom was not a normal situation. I don't believe that it is fair to expect Jack to hide such an integral part of himself as his sexuality from his family. It is an important part of who he is."

Jack looked up at Blaine anxiously and then at his father. Mr Connor was looking red in his face and angry.

"Mr Anderson, Jack is my son and I will not be lectured on parenting in my own home. When he made the decision to leave home he no longer was my priority. I had to put his younger siblings and their wellbeing first. If Jack feels that these terms are unacceptable then that his choice to make, I am not shifting on them."

Kurt ached at the broken look on Jack's face.

"Dad, can I at least wait to say hello to Laney and Todd?"

Mr Connor's face was suddenly flooded with deep emotion for the first time that night. "Is that your answer then?" Kurt was shocked that he genuinely did not seem to have expected that response.

Jack nodded, his eyes filling up with tears. "I'm sorry," he whispered quietly. Kurt was relieved to see Blaine reach over and hold Jack's hand to provide some small measure of comfort.

Mr Connor shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry too Jack. And no, I don't think that it would be good for you to see Todd and Laney at this point. They will just worry about you when you leave again and I think the whole loss cycle will restart." Tears spilled down Jack's face.

His father continued, his voice thick with swallowed emotions. "Jack, I need you to understand, I do love you, and I am pleased that you came to me today. I am sorry that I don't seem to be able to offer you what you want or need right now. If when you get yourself sorted out you want to come and visit with your brother and sister sometimes, I would be happy with that. I want you to be a part of this family again, son."

Jack started to sob and ran to his father across the kitchen. Both father and son clung to each other tightly and Kurt felt his own tears pouring down his face at the scene in front of him. Only Blaine held the same blank, stoic look from earlier. Kurt bit his lip in concern looking at his boyfriend but he knew that whatever was eating at the other man would have to be managed later.

Jack slowly let go of his father and turned to Blaine. "Can I get a ride in to Columbus with you?"

Mr Connor spoke up. "Are you going to take him back to that Trevor's place?"

Blaine shook his head. "Only if he wants to go there."

Jack looked away and muttered something but before anyone could ask him to repeat it he had stalked through the house and out of the front door. The three men stood awkwardly staring at each other in the kitchen.

Mr Connor spoke up. "Mr Anderson, you will look after my son won't you?"

Kurt caught a flash of pure rage shoot across Blaine's face, but it was gone as soon as it came. Mr Connor looked a little disconcerted but Blaine responded very politely, "Only if he will let us. Goodbye, Mr Connor." Then he turned on his heel and followed Jack out of the house with Kurt following closely behind.

* * *

Kurt followed Blaine who was moving quickly to the car.

"Blaine, stop for a minute. Hold up!"

"Not now Kurt."

Kurt sprinted the last few steps closing the gap. "Yes, NOW!" He put his hand on Blaine's arm and forcibly spun him around to face him. "We need a plan."

Blaine's face was blank of expression but his eyes were a sea of impossible emotions. Kurt felt frightened by the deep wells staring back at him.

"Look, give me your keys," Kurt demanded holding his hand out.

"What? No Kurt. Stop being dramatic. I'm fine to drive."

"Like hell you are. Look at yourself. You are ready to punch someone. Blaine, he is not your father and Jack needs you right now. Give me the keys, let me drive and you take care of him."

Blaine's face crumpled a bit and he whipped around and kicked the front tyre of his car hard. "FUCK!"

Slowly he turned back to Kurt and held out the keys. Then he climbed in to the back seat. Kurt caught a glimpse of the pale, tear stained face of Jack staring at Blaine worriedly. Kurt rubbed his hand over his face and walked to the driver's door. When he looked in the rearview mirror he was relieved to see Blaine hugging Jack hard and whispering to him. Jack was crying once again in to Blaine's shoulder.

Slowly Kurt put the key in the ignition and started the car. Clearly they all needed some food and sleep.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Kurt pulled the car in to the IHOP car park that he, Blaine and the rest of the Warblers used to hit up every few weeks after a late night study session. It was now 7am and definitely breakfast time.

Blaine looked at him in surprise and Kurt was relieved to see the first signs of a smile cross his features.

"Hey Jack, breakfast is on you, huh?" Blaine asked jokingly.

Jack looked at him warily but caught the smile in Blaine's eyes. He rolled his own. "Alright." He reached in to his pocket and pulled out three crumpled $20 bills. "Here." He thrust the notes in to Blaine's hand.

"Where's the rest?"

"What do you want from me, dude? Taxis are expensive."

Blaine nodded and got out of the car. Kurt caught him as they walked in to the restaurant. "I'll be with you both in a minute. I've got a call to make."

Blaine looked at him carefully. "Kurt, this plan had better be a good one because we need a miracle right now."

"No pressure then."

Blaine narrowed his eyes slightly and then leaned forward to peck Kurt on the lips.

"Dude, seriously, not before breakfast… yuck…now I've lost my appetite." Both men started to laugh at Jack's squawk.

"I'm just coming Jack. Go get us a table." Blaine leaned forward again and gave Kurt a deeper kiss. "I trust you," he whispered in to Kurt's ear and then turned away and walked in to the restaurant.

Kurt let out a deep breath and turned to focus for a minute on the sunrise. At least there was some peace and calm to be had in the inevitable movement of the Sun around the Earth. No matter how chaotic life got that was a constant that Kurt could rely on. He flashed to a memory of himself six months ago in LA watching another sunrise after a drug fuelled night. No way would he have predicted at that point that six months later he would be here, in Columbus, standing outside the IHOP with the future of a 17 year old boy balanced in his hands. It was crazy how quickly life could change.

Kurt raised his phone and made the call that he had pinned all of his hopes on. His hands were shaking.

"Hello, Kurt?"

"Hey Dad. We found him. Have you talked to Carol yet?"

"Yeah. Are you sure about this Kurt? You don't have to move out you know. We have Finn's room."

"Yeah I do, Dad. I can't live with the boy and date his Social Worker. That would be all kinds of awkward. Are you and Carol sure you are up for this?"

"Yeah. Why not? It's not like you weren't your own package of drama when you were his age."

"Dad!"

"I'm kidding Kurt. Look we'll do our best with him and with Blaine to help us along the way, I'm sure we've got a good shot. So where was he?"

"With his Dad just like Blaine guessed."

"How did that go?"

"Gut wrenching. You know…I don't know that it's a totally lost cause but his father knows very little of his recent history and also hasn't come to terms with the realities of what it means to have a gay child. I don't know if that bridge can be mended but may be if his Dad is willing to learn… who knows?"

"Hmm… so where are you guys?"

"At the IHOP on Morse and I-71. I haven't told Blaine or Jack yet so we'll see. Hopefully we will be with you in a little bit. God knows we all need some serious sleep."

"Well good luck with the conversation. And where are YOU going to sleep tonight?"

Kurt bit his lip. "I dunno, Dad. Finn said I can stay at his for a few weeks so I'll probably go back and forth between his spare room and Blaine's. I'll be fine for a while."

"And then what?"

"Dad, stop. I don't know what's happening after February yet. It's way too early for me to make that decision. Can you let me do one step at a time? Right now I'm going to eat pancakes for the first time in probably five years and then I'm going to try to re-home a homeless adolescent and then I am going to bed. Angsting about the future can wait until tomorrow."

"OK son. Good luck. We love you."

"Love you too Dad and thank you in advance to both of you."

* * *

_AN: Well done to those that guessed this. Now all they need to do is convince Jack, sort out their own lives and get through February... easy... right?_

_Please review : )_


	29. Chapter 29

_AN: I hope you all enjoyed the Royal Wedding! So fun._

_Warning: Smut with playful bondage and food porn! Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 29

Blaine walked in to the IHOP to find Jack sitting at a table by the window. His forehead was pressed up against the glass and Blaine realised that Jack was staring at Kurt making the phone call with a very wistful expression on his face. His eyes looked almost hungry and longing in a way that Blaine could not quite place. He walked over to the table and pulled up the seat next to Jack putting a hand gently on is shoulder. His breath caught in his chest when Jack faced him with the same expression all over his face.

"What's going on Jack?"

The boy's eyes filled with tears. "I'm going to miss you guys."

Blaine's heart broke a little in his chest. He sent a fervent prayer heavenwards that Kurt's plan was going to come through. He knew he couldn't stand it if Jack walked away from them today.

"Jack, if you could have anything in the World what would you want?"

Jack furrowed his brow clearly not expecting that question. His body posture had stiffened up momentarily expecting to defend his decision about leaving TH. Now his body relaxed and he leaned forward to take a biscuit off the table. He began shredding it in his fingers while he thought through his answer.

"My Dad to accept me…Some place amazing to live where I am safe… and people around who accept me without demanding things." He said the last bit quietly and looked embarrassed immediately but Blaine felt warmth flood through him. At least Jack was able to dream and what he was asking for did not seem completely unrealistic. In fact the hopes were quite adult and mature compared with what Blaine might have guessed Jack would come up with.

He had a hunch as to what Kurt was plotting but he was apprehensive about how it would work. He felt relief flood through him however when he looked up to see Kurt moving through the tables towards him with a determined look on his face. His heart began to hope.

Kurt pulled up the chair opposite Jack. "Have we ordered yet?"

Blaine tried to catch his eyes but Kurt just smiled benignly back at him.

"I want pancakes and French toast as I am paying," Jack said with a cheeky grin on his face. He stood up, clearly scanning the place for a bathroom. "Coffee too, please."

Blaine waited for him to be out of earshot and then turned to Kurt. "What did Burt say?"

Kurt just laughed at him in amusement. He shook his head in amazement that he had been so transparent.

"He and Carol are up for it if Jack is. They are a bit anxious and of course they don't know a huge amount but Dad actually seems excited about the challenge."

Even though Blaine had guessed right, he had only just twigged the plan and his brain was running at 100mph trying to register all the different permutations and their impact. His brain kept freezing on one point though. If Jack was living with Kurt then things between him and Kurt would become impossibly complicated.

Kurt must have seen the concern flicker past his face. "I'm moving out Blaine. I know that it would be totally unacceptable for Jack to move in with your boyfriend so I am going to go stay with Finn and Shannon for a while."

Blaine only had time to compute this and nod quickly before the waitress and Jack reappeared at the table at the same time. They all ordered and Jack resumed shredding the biscuit and staring nonchalantly out of the window.

Blaine saw Kurt looking at him, expecting Blaine to break the uneasy silence that had fallen.

"Jack, where are you thinking about going tonight?" Blaine asked.

Jack shrugged noncommittally.

Kurt spoke up. "I have an idea Jack. Do you remember that we talked about my Dad last week?"

Jack looked up at Kurt, his eyes questioning. He nodded slightly. Blaine could feel his own palms getting sweaty and his heart pounding in his chest. Kurt however looked totally focussed and in control.

"My Dad and his wife, my Stepmom Carol, live in Columbus. They are actually not that far away from TH. My Dad owns an auto repair shop and Carol is a substitute teacher. My step brother Finn and I have both left home. Finn is married and has two children and so his family stop by regularly. It's a lovely family Jack and they are willing for you to come stay with them for a while if you would like to?"

Jack just stared at Kurt in shock and did not say anything. Blaine bit his lip worriedly but did not jump in. Kurt began to look uneasy and started to babble.

"Look it's not that far from TH so you could go to school there during the day and that means you could still see Blaine. I will be around quite a bit too when I am in Columbus and it would be nice to see you. You said yourself Jack that my Dad sounds amazing and he really is. Carol too. I promise you would be looked after well…"

Blaine could tell by the look on Kurt's face that Jack's non response was really beginning to get to him. He knew that Kurt was about to head down the frustrated sarcasm route so when Kurt opened his mouth again to persuade Jack further, Blaine kicked him hard under the table.

Kurt let out a yelp, similar to something an injured puppy might make and then glared hard at Blaine. Blaine met the glare back with his own slight shake of the head. He pointedly said to Jack, aiming at Kurt,

"Jack, what Kurt's family are offering is an amazing option, it could meet at least some of the things you just told me you dream about. But you should take a few minutes to think about what you want. It has to be your choice."

Kurt looked ready to dive in again but he quietened when Blaine caught his eye and raised one eyebrow at him pointedly. Jack just looked up at Blaine with a blank expression and then turned back to the plate that had just been put in front of him.

To say that his response was underwhelming would be a gross understatement. Blaine knew that Kurt had been expecting Jack to knock him over with enthusiasm and tearful hugs but instead there was very little reaction. Kurt looked completely crushed and kept sending Blaine confused and concerned glances.

Blaine however was not feeling that concerned. He knew that Jack needed some time to process this bolt out of the blue. He also knew that Jack was struggling with the idea of putting himself at the mercy of someone else who would have a say over his life and could possibly try to hurt him again. Blaine also wondered if the idea of living with Kurt's almost mythically perfect father might be too overwhelming so soon after everything with Jack's Dad.

So Blaine kept his peace and sipped on his coffee slowly while trying to rack his brains for other options if this one proved too generous for Jack. His heart was still pounding but he hid this behind his calm veneer that he had perfected so early in his adolescence. It was the same mask that he had constructed when he came out to his parents and his father had never looked at him the same again. He knew that he was frustrating Kurt at the moment but he also knew that this agonising wait was essential for Jack in the long run.

Finally Jack broke the silence.

"I don't think I can, Kurt. I'm sorry."

"WHAT?" Kurt's voice carried loud in the relatively empty restaurant and Blaine felt heads turning to stare at them.

"How can I? I don't have any money. I have nothing to give them. I can't pay for clothes and food. I know you won't let me skip school and I'll tell you now my Dad won't pay. I can't live in someone's home feeling like I owe them and at any second they could be bored with me and kick me out."

"But becoming homeless today is the better option here?" Kurt looked like he was losing his cool fast but Blaine watched proudly as he visibly pulled himself together and took it down a few notches. "Look, Jack, money isn't an issue. As long as you stay in school and are your usual charming self I will cover the cost so you don't need to worry about that."

Jack looked totally blown away by that but then his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What's in it for you? Is this a ploy to get Blaine 'cause what happens then… if… you guys break up?"

Even Blaine's eyes widened at the bluntness of that statement and Kurt looked totally sucker punched.

"No, Jack, what ever goes on between me and Blaine is irrelevant to you. You are a good kid who deserves a break. If it will make you feel better I can keep a running tally of the money I give them for you and you can pay me back when you are older."

Blaine worked hard to cover the smirk that crept on to his face. Well played, Kurt, he thought. Of course Kurt had not intention of demanding the money back but now Jack felt that he was on more equal terms, he might just accept the help. Maybe.

Jack played with the syrup bottle for a few minutes.

"OK, I'll only go under certain conditions."

Kurt spluttered his coffee over the table. "Conditions? Like you're in position to bargain."

Blaine winced and once again kicked Kurt hard under the table. Kurt was more prepared this time and glared at him while kicking him back.

"If you two are done playing footsie, can we focus back on me please?"

Blaine turned to Jack. "What are the conditions?"

"1. If I don't like it I can leave and you won't try to stop me." Blaine nodded quickly knowing just how vulnerable Jack must be feeling right now. "2. I get full say over school and college," Kurt looked ready to jump in. "No, I know I have to go and that's fine but you don't get to decide for me where." Kurt and Blaine both nodded. "3. I get to go out with whoever I want and stay out as long as I want."

Kurt looked horrified but Blaine just burst out laughing. "Nice try, buddy. Kurt's parents are going to be as strict as TH and will expect you to earn their trust, particularly after the dabbling in stealing we had yesterday."

Jack groaned and put his head in his hand looking thoroughly put out but it was just an act. The ice had been well and truly broken and Jack spent the rest of the meal and the car ride to Burt and Carol's asking hundreds of questions and getting increasingly excited, if a little anxious.

* * *

Blaine pulled up outside the house he knew so well feeling overwhelmed with gratitude. Jack was practically vibrating in the back seat. Only Kurt appeared calm and together as he had complete faith that his father would manage everything that Jack threw at him.

Carol came out as they pulled up in to the driveway. Blaine hung back while Kurt ushered Jack in to the house and started introductions. It was now 9 am and he called TH and the police to let them know that Jack was safe and well. He talked for about half an hour to the Director about the proper way to make the Hummels legitimate foster carers. It seemed that it was actually pretty straight forward given Jack's age and willingness to stay. Burt and Carol would have to be police checked and probably Finn and Shannon too if they were coming over often. Other than that, the real difficulty lay in trying to get the state to financially recognise them. Blaine thought he would discuss this with Kurt later as it may be more trouble than the minimal subsistence payments were worth but this would have to be a decision made between Kurt and his parents.

Blaine took a moment to lean up against the outside of his car and just be thankful that there were people in this World so willing and open to turning their lives upside down to look after a kid like Jack. He thanked his lucky stars that Kurt had stumbled back in to his life and that things had changed so drastically in the last few months. He thought about Christmas coming and then the few short weeks before the reality of February would kick in. He really did not want to think about what would happen when Kurt realised that he was too talented to give up his career and he has no prospects in Columbus. It was a total inevitability that Blaine had been trying to ignore but now they were 10 weeks away from the end of the semester and so the end was coming.

Kurt pulled him out of his melancholy thoughts.

"Hey, Dad's telling us to go. They've set Jack up in Finn's old room and he is already asleep. We need to get some too. He's invited us back for dinner tonight to help talk about ground rules, expectations and anything else they should know."

Blaine pulled Kurt in to a tight hug. "Thank you for doing this. You are putting yourself out so much for him and I really appreciate it."

He smiled as Kurt buried his nose in to his shirt and breathed deeply. "No need to thank me. This way I get to sleep at night too. He's a good kid and I could have been him really easily, even if I have always had better fashion sense than he does."

Blaine laughed and he and Kurt got in to the car to drive home.

* * *

After a long nap and a late lunch Blaine was lying on the thick rug at the end of his bed listening to Scissor Sisters and grooving along with his imaginary air guitar. Kurt was resting with his head on Blaine's thigh reading the latest copy of Vogue magazine. He had been baking a cake for tonight but this was a brief moment of respite while the cake cooked and before he needed to consider the appropriate type of icing needed.

Blaine let the musicality of the songs seep in to his tired brain. He needed the consistent rhythm and drum beat to ensure that he did not drift off. After a few minutes he was aware the he was being stared at. He opened his eyes slowly and smiled sleepily at Kurt.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself."

Blaine watched as Kurt continued to stare at him unashamedly and then slowly he saw a gleam come in to Kurt's eyes and Kurt's tongue dart out to lick his lips mischievously.

"Don't move," Kurt said. "I'll be right back."

Blaine lay back with both eyes shut trying to rouse his brain enough to prepare for whatever was coming his way.

Kurt reappeared with a large bowl in his hands. "I made some buttercream frosting earlier but it wasn't the right consistency so I have had to start again. However, I've just thought of a use for it. Blaine raised himself up on his elbows suddenly distinctly more interested.

He watched as Kurt moved around the room getting a large fluffy towel out and spreading it on the bed. Blaine dragged himself over to look in the bowl and tentatively stuck a finger in to the cream mixture. It was absolute heaven.

Suddenly Kurt appeared by his ear. "So… you said earlier that you trust me. Shall we test that out?"

Blaine turned quickly and looked at Kurt's evil grin. He was holding up two ties in his hand. Ties that Blaine recognised from the back of his wardrobe. Old Dalton ties to be exact.

Yeah, it was fair to say that he was getting very interested now. He leaned over and kissed Kurt hard. "You're on."

He stood up, unbuttoning his shirt as he went and then stepped out of his jeans and boxers before falling on the bed.

"Which way do you want me?"

"Oh, definitely on your back." Kurt got very close to his ear and then whispered, "I want to see everything."

Blaine gulped as Kurt's super sexy deep husky voice came out. He had not heard that in a very long time. He actually whimpered in response and then tried to cover it by coughing.

He heard Kurt laugh and watched as his wrist was tied firmly to a vertical post in his headboard with the blue and red stripes of his alma mater. He tested the knot and restriction for his wrist while Kurt tied the second hand. Then he looked up at Kurt in amusement.

Kurt looked down at him with a pointed look. "I haven't decided if I am going to need a third tie yet so I would be careful if I were you. Play your cards one way or the other and I'm sure I could find a very handy blindfold or gag."

Blaine laughed. "Yes SIR!" he said with a big joking smile on his face.

Kurt lay down on top of him and kissed him solidly. "God, I've missed this. You are so beautiful." He kissed Blaine again with a searing, deep, passionate kiss but then withdrew quickly. Blaine instinctively tried to follow him up but was restricted by the movement in his arms and so flounced irritably back in to the pillow.

He watched as Kurt clambered off the bed and removed his top and jeans carefully folding them safely out of harms way. He then dropped his briefs and crawled back towards Blaine balancing the bowl in one hand.

"The cake will take a while to cool so I have you at my mercy for a long time. I suggest you lie back and enjoy."

"Yeah right, like you are going to eat more than a few mouthfuls of that stuff," Blaine teased. "It's straight butter and sugar."

Kurt's gaze was suddenly dangerous. "I can make a happy exception just for you. This icing is perfection and deserves to be treated respectfully. I intend to do just that."

With that being said, he took a dollop out of the bowl and smeared it over Blaine's nipples. He then took another dollop on his finger and fed his finger directly in to Blaine's mouth to suck on. Blaine groaned with the mixture of icing and finger in his mouth and the sensations caused by Kurt licking and nibbling at his nipples and chest area, spreading the mess around with his tongue.

Blaine's arms itched against their ties as his hands attempted to get closer to Kurt to direct his movements. He tried to focus on driving Kurt crazy in the only way he could, by running his tongue in seductive patterns up and down Kurt's finger. He was happily satisfied when Kurt bit hard in to his torso and sucked deeply to mark him.

Kurt withdrew his finger and went back to the bowl to scoop more icing on to his hand and returned to Blaine smearing the icing in to his chin and cheek before giving him a solid dollop and two fingers to keep him busy.

With his mouth and other hand he worked his way down to Blaine's navel and treasure trail. Blaine felt a cooling in his lower abdomen when a large mound of icing was placed on to his skin and Kurt proceeded to lick and bite patterns in to his skin through the sweetness.

A third finger was pushed in to Blaine's mouth when Kurt got to his groin, bringing more icing to smear over his cock and balls. The stimulation was driving Blaine crazy and he started to writhe in his bonds, trying to arch his body up nearer Kurt's mouth to get that torturous tongue where he wanted it.

Kurt finally removed his three fingers and just looked at Blaine hard and leaking in need, writhing to get close to Kurt's hands and lips. He smiled completely at Blaine and leaned his full weight over him smearing the sugary mess from Blaine's torso all over both of them.

He kissed Blaine deeply, licking the taste of the icing out of his mouth and groaning at the taste and mix as he swallowed the saliva down. Blaine's brain short circuited at the image and sensations. He was definitely not thinking straight.

As soon as he had the space to speak he began to beg. "Please, Kurt, please… you are so beautiful… please I love you… I need you to go down and … just… ngghhh…"

He looked up and saw Kurt smiling at him highly amused. "Yes? What exactly do you want Blaine?"

Blaine failed to string whole sentences together. The concept of needing to be eloquent at this point drove him crazy. "Ngghh…" he strained up against his bonds and writhed the bottom half of his body, contorting it towards Kurt who was sitting next to him looking angelically innocent.

After a few seconds, Blaine got some blood flowing back to him brain. "Please Kurt, please suck me. Please fuck me with your fingers and suck me."

"Of course, my love." Kurt grinned at Blaine as he leaned down, kissing his mouth.

He then manoeuvred his way down the bed. "Since you asked so nicely," and took Blaine deep in to his mouth. With the fingers that Blaine had been sucking he began to rub circles over Blaine's asshole and then gently pressed one in.

The effect was instantaneous. Blaine arched up and let out a shriek of pure pleasure. "Yes, just like that…YES"

He closed his eyes and just allowed the sensations sweep over him of the fingers in his ass and the beautiful mouth sucking him hard. Kurt used his second hand to finger and massage his balls gently and Blaine hid his head deep in to his upper arm finding the sensations too much.

As the three fingers found Blaine's prostate and pressed deep in to him Blaine let out an agonized yell and came deep in to Kurt's throat. Kurt sucked him dry, gentling his balls and rubbing circles on to the nub inside him until he was fully drained and coming down off his high.

Slowly he became aware that Kurt was working his way up his body, licking and sucking at the disgusting drying mess of sugar, saliva and sweat on his torso. Then he became aware that Kurt was spreading more icing on his belly. He looked up questioningly and then groaned deeply when he saw the dark hue of Kurt's hard cock.

He wriggled around to help Kurt get the position perfect and then tensed his abdominal muscles as Kurt lay full length on top of him and began to grind down in to his hips and belly.

"Release me," he said. Kurt looked up at him in disbelief at having his rhythm interrupted but Kurt did what he asked without question, stretching full length with muscles straining, as he fiddled with the knots. Luckily they came away quickly and Blaine immediately brought his arms down, shaking them out to his sides to get the blood flowing again, and grabbed Kurt's ass helping him press himself deeper in to Blaine's belly to get better friction. The icing acted as effective lube for the most part and both men grunted at the effort.

Just as he could feel Kurt getting close, Blaine reached between then and swiped a large dollop of gunk on to his finger before circling it back and behind Kurt seeking out his hole. He knew when he had found it by the pleasured cry that went up from Kurt. He came loudly all over their stomachs just adding to the mess between them.

Both men began laughing very hard as soon as they had calmed down. That must have been the most ridiculously messy sex they had had, or at least, in the top five. Kurt nuzzled his nose in to the icing still on Blaine's ear and the bits that had escaped in to his curls.

"This is absolutely gross," Blaine giggled.

"Time to shower." Kurt surveyed the state of the towel under them. "I wonder how I'm going to clean that."

"Seriously, that's what you are wondering? I was wondering how we are going to get to the shower without messing up the carpet with all this gunge dripping off us."

"That too. Still it was worth it."

Blaine smiled up at Kurt and leaned up to bring their lips back together. "It certainly was."

* * *

_AN: I am ridiculously pleased with myself for achieving hot fluff with remarkably little angst! Woot Woot!_

_Now my sweet lovely kind readers, I have a serious question for you. This story is coming to an end. The next few chapters will focus on Kurt and Blaine but I feel that Jack is about as sorted as he is going to get in this story. I'm going to leave him in the capable hands of the Hummels and give him some happy fluffy times._

_So here is my question folks: I am contemplating a sequel... shorter and still Klaine centered but I want Team!Jack to take on Tom (the bad guy). But I know that people often feel kind of meh about reading stories that have a lot OC stuff in them. My thought is that we might also deal with some Daddy issues (Blaine and Jack) as well as of course Klaine issues through the sequel but primarily it would be about Jack and Tom through Blaine's eyes. _

_What do you guys think? Please be honest as this is/ has been a blast and if you would think strongly that I should quit while I am ahead, I am very open to hearing that._

*_Love*_


	30. Chapter 30

_AN: Thank you all for the amazing responses and the very touching comments that you left. Thank you also to all the people who have favorited/ alerted this story. I love that so many people are joining in for the ride. Thank you so much for cheering me through the 100,000 word mark... that's crazy!_

_So without further ado - on with the next. And it's Christmas (I know it's May... but what can you do?)_

_If you don't know what a Christmas cracker is you may want to google it as it will help make the first section easier to understand. They are a very British tradition that I was amazed did not seem to be used in American Christmases at all - or at least in my pocket of the Midwest._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 30

"Dana, come here." Kurt watched as the little five year old girl with brown hair stopped running sugar-high fuelled circuits around the dinner table and skipped happily to Blaine. It was Christmas, a week later, and the whole family including Jack had feasted to their hearts content on Carol and Kurt's cooking.

Blaine swept Dana on to his lap and the little girl looked up at him with adoring eyes. Although they had only really met properly in the last few months, Dana, like everyone else in the World was entranced by Kurt's gorgeous boyfriend and now she listened to him with her eyes as wide as saucers.

"Dana, we need your help. Do you know that Jack has no idea what to do with a Christmas cracker?" Blaine spoke quietly, as though only to Dana, but clearly enough that the whole family were listening in. Dana looked curiously over at Jack clearly questioning the truth of this shocking statement. Jonah, who was 7 and had taken to idol worshiping Jack since he had moved in to the Hummel house the week before, nudged the 17 year old and whispered loudly, "Is that true?"

Jack looked up at Blaine and Kurt in bewilderment. Kurt met his eyes and smiled back reassuringly. Christmas crackers were a Hummel tradition. His mother had been a nanny for a year in London when she was 19 and had brought back the tradition with her. Every year she and Burt had scoured Columbus, Cleveland and on one occasion, Cincinnati, to source the items in the Mid West. They had become something of an obscure tradition in the family and was one that Carol strongly encouraged keeping.

"Dana," Blaine continued, "we need you to teach Jack the correct way to pull a Christmas cracker." Dana looked across at her father to see if Blaine was being serious. Clearly she could not understand that anyone might be lost with pulling a Christmas cracker. Finn smiled encouragingly at her. "Go ahead, sweetheart. You will be a great teacher for Jack."

The little girl needed no further encouragement and hopped off Blaine's lap, running full speed around the table and screeching to a stop by Jack's chair. "You pick it up and hold it like this," she reached up and grabbed one end of the brightly colored cylindrical cardboard to demonstrate. "I hold the other and we pull." Jack went to grab the other end of the cracker that Dana was holding out to her, looking very unsure.

"No, not like that silly. You have to cross your arms in front of you and hold it with the other hand." Jack looked at Blaine in confusion, as the adults around the table started to laugh. "Here," Jonah piped up, holding his cracker out. "Cross your arms in front of you, take her end and the end of this one and then we make a circle all around the table."

Jack did as he was told and the rest of the table accepted Jonah's prompt and all crossed their arms in front of them, each person holding an end of a cracker with the person next to them in each hand. "Now we PULL!" Jonah shouted.

Jack let out a surprised squeak as loud bangs and laughter were heard all around the table. The cylindrical shape of the crackers split in two with a bang, leaving the stronger partner with the bigger part. Jack stared down in total confusion at the large piece in his hand.

"Here, gimme it," Dana piped up, grabbing for it. Jack handed the remains of the cracker to her. "See?" she said triumphantly, "you get a hat, a toy and a joke." She emptied out the contents of the cardboard cylinder to show Jack. "What color's your hat? Oh look, it's green. That's cool. Mine's red."

Kurt smiled at the antics of the children with Jack across the table as he and Blaine fought over the one gold hat. Kurt's hat was bright orange, a color that he would never place on his head in a million years. He had unsuccessfully tried to sneak swap it for Blaine's but Blaine had rumbled the plot and now was keeping the hat far out of Kurt's reach. Kurt decided drastic action was needed and pulled Blaine in to a deep heated, passionate kiss, while reaching out with one hand to grab the gold hat. Blaine laughed in to the kiss and finally relented, handing his prized gold hat to Kurt and ending the kiss with a peck on the nose.

Finn and Burt had already put their hats on and were reading out the groan worthy jokes to a table of people who were barely listening.

"What's black, white and red all over?"

"A sunburnt penguin."

Jonah was now practically in Jack's lap trying to get him to look at the toy that he had found in his cracker. It was a miniature plastic tool set. "Come on," Jonah was saying, "let's find things to unscrew."

Carol appeared behind Jonah quickly. "I think that looks far more like a Gramp present to me. Jonah, why don't you give that to your grandfather? He's got a magic trick that I think he would like your help to work out and if you do, he might just let you keep it."

"Impressive redirection," Blaine whispered in to Kurt's ear as they both watched Jonah run full pelt to his grandfather. Carol winked at the men across the table.

Kurt smiled at the chaos around him and then jumped up with his camera, catching candid shots of the family working their way through the cracker gifts. He caught a beautiful photo of Burt and Jonah figuring out the magic trick, Finn with Dana on his lap and finally Blaine and Jack reading jokes out loud and coming up with better answers that were cracking each other up.

It was a mad but very happy and endearing scene. Kurt felt blessed to have all of these amazing people in his life again and couldn't help but get a bit wistfully caught up in the moment. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned as Carol pulled him in to a hug.

"It's lovely having you home, Kurt. We've missed you being around for Christmas." Kurt returned the hug strongly and kissed Carol on the cheek, too overwhelmed with happy emotions to respond.

* * *

Later that evening Kurt and Blaine ended up back at Blaine's apartment, curled up on his sofa, under a cozy blanket, watching a movie. Kurt found his mind drifting as his body succumbed to a food stupor, digesting the large Christmas meal. His head was resting on Blaine's chest and he relished Blaine's arm wrapped tightly around him, holding him close, making him feel secure.

Kurt's brain flickered to the email that he had received from his agent that week. He had been trying hard not to acknowledge it and had pushed it to the back of his mind after the Jack drama. Now though he knew that he was going to have to start making some choices.

His agent, Sally, had mentioned two auditions in LA in early January that she wanted him to fly in for. She had been very clear that the pilots, should he get them, would not be shot until after his February deadline so all it would mean would be a trip of a couple of days to meet the casting agents and discuss options. Kurt wasn't sure how he felt about any of this. The fact that he had not mentioned the email to Blaine spoke volumes.

Kurt knew that his relationship with Blaine was at a fragile stage. On one hand they had slipped back easily in to a comfortable and full on routine that was reminiscent of the best part of their previous relationship. They were in a weird limbo between dating and some kind of unspoken long term commitment. Certainly there were times when they had both caught themselves suggesting together plans for the summer or the rest of the year. Kurt technically was staying with Finn and Shannon but he was sleeping at Blaine's at least five nights a week.

However, Kurt knew that Blaine was still struggling with insecurities about Kurt's past. He would deny it outright if Kurt called him on it but Kurt saw the look on his face if he mentioned a guy that Blaine did not know, or did not account for some hours in his day. Blaine was not in any way controlling about this, and certainly never demanded a schedule of Kurt's day to day life but every so often Kurt would see a flicker of disquiet shoot across Blaine's face and a momentary biting of the bottom lip in an attempt to mask the next doubt.

It killed Kurt. On a logical level he knew that this was natural and Blaine was working through his difficulties and building up trust. He knew that Blaine had harbored feelings of betrayal from Kurt for years after he left for LA with Mark. The fact that they now agreed on a whole new different interpretation of events was taking a while for Blaine to adjust to. However, on an emotional level the lack of trust, and the implication that Kurt would just waltz off with the next eligible bachelor that came along was heart wrenching. There were definitely nights when Kurt would look forward to the solitude of his own space at Finn's rather than deal with the seething anger inside of himself that he felt the need to constantly prove himself.

None of these feelings made the February decision easy. He loved Blaine. He had always loved Blaine and knew without a shadow of a doubt that those feelings were returned whole heartedly. But the choice to stay with Blaine in Columbus would mean sacrificing everything that he had built his career for. He had mixed feelings about LA. He loved his job. He loved creating high quality movies and TV shows. He loved being a part of the Hollywood spectacle. He loved being a celebrity and giving interviews and going to awesome parties. He loved the buzz, the excitement and the adrenaline rush of just being accepted and valued by his peers in LA. He desperately missed that.

He did not miss the loneliness or the isolation. He did not miss coming home to an empty apartment and going out alone. He did not miss the paparazzi peering in every window or the pressure to always look fabulous and to go to the gym five times a week. He did not miss the anonymous sex parties and the drugs. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the last three months in Columbus had been more precious, soul enriching and meaningful than the whole of his personal life in the last eight years.

Kurt wondered if he had the guts to ask Blaine to come with him to LA. He had been kicking around the idea as he felt that the presence of his soulmate and lover might be just the ticket he needed to feel complete in LA. He felt for sure that with Blaine by his side he could be fulfilled in every way and he would no longer be living a fake life.

Sadly though, he knew that Blaine would hate LA. He would detest the superficiality. He would loathe the media attention and the fancy, pretentious idiots that Kurt constantly had to schmooze with. There was no doubt that Blaine would be capable of pulling off the act but Kurt knew that he could never ask that of him. Kurt's life had been an act for 9 years. He could not force Blaine to make that sacrifice for him.

But Kurt knew that he was already itching to leave Columbus. This was not about family or friends. This was about feeling totally unfulfilled and lost. He loved his volunteer time at TH, but teaching adolescent kids was not his calling. He wondered about maybe setting up an arts foundation for homeless kids in LA that he could maybe take an occasional role with, on his terms. He thought he would enjoy that outlet and connection but he knew he would be suffocated and would grow resentful if he was to try to teach full time. That was not him. He needed to perform and create. He wanted to be a star.

So for all these reasons, Kurt had been ignoring the email sitting in his inbox. He knew that at some point he and Blaine were going to have to face this choice. But he also knew that neither of them wanted to think about it. They were too scared of the obvious answer. He wondered idly if his heart would ever recover from the inevitable separation that was coming their way.

* * *

Kurt burrowed deep in to Blaine who had fallen asleep. He studied the beautiful man's face, trying to remember all the little details that a photo would never do justice to; the laughter lines that were forming around his eyes, the worry lines that were beginning to deepen on his forehead. He leaned up to kiss the closed eyelids gently and smiled as Blaine stirred under him.

"Hey," Blaine murmured softly.

"Hey, yourself. You fell asleep."

Blaine closed his eyes again, a smile on his lips and nodded drowsily. "Mmm, hmm. Is the movie over?"

"The best bits are."

Blaine released his hold on Kurt and stretched under him, arching his back in to Kurt as he stretched his arms above his head and gasped with the release of tight muscles. He then yawned and pressed a sleepy kiss in to the side of Kurt's head.

Kurt found himself instinctively yawning in response and then laughed at the impulse. "Come on sleepy head. I have one more gift for you."

Blaine had closed his eyes once more but now he opened one of them and looked at Kurt curiously through it. "Oh yes?" he said playfully.

Kurt smacked him lightly on the chest at the sexual insinuation. "Not like that, you chump. Get your head out of the gutter for once."

Blaine laughed. "Hey young man, you are certainly not the gutter, and you can't fault me for trying. So what's the gift?

Kurt stood up off the couch and went in to Blaine's bedroom. He returned with Blaine's guitar case and a brightly colored package.

Blaine looked at him amused. "Uh huh." He reached out and took the package from Kurt, unwrapping it quickly. He did not seem overly surprised that it contained guitar strings and looked at Kurt with a slightly frustrated if teasing response.

"Is this a hint?" Blaine asked.

"Sure. It's time to start playing again Blaine. You seem like you have a piece of your soul missing without the guitar. You said you stopped playing because it brought back too many painful memories of me. Well I hope that in the last few months we have been able to replace some of those sad memories with happier ones. So now it's time to reclaim your passion."

Blaine looked at Kurt contemplatively for a minute before nodding his head slowly and opening up the guitar case. Kurt sat down next to him on the couch again and they both stared at the sorry looking instrument with the broken strings lying haphazardly over the woodwork.

Kurt bit his lip. "Will you tell me why you cut them?"

Blaine breathed in audibly through his nose and slowly reached out a finger to feel the end of one of the strings. His posture was suddenly so sad that Kurt gave in to the urge to wrap him in a tight hug.

"It was stupid really," Blaine said. "It was about six months after you left. You got the part in the first show. I guess I was a bit obsessive about stalking you on the internet and in magazines. Anyway I came across some article in a magazine that showed a picture of you and Mark holding hands walking down Santa Monica pier. The article was about how brave you were as a young actor arriving in Hollywood to be so open about your sexuality. It was actually a really good article but the writer gushed about what a perfect couple you guys made. There was a short interview as well with you, where you were quoted as describing Mark as the love of your life," Blaine stiffened under Kurt's hands. "I guess I just saw red. I had been struggling to pick up the guitar anyway at that point because I would usually cry when I played and it just hurt so much. It just seemed like the easiest target to take my anger out on. Stupid, really."

Kurt felt pierced with sadness. Blaine was not looking at him at all and then Kurt saw a tear run down Blaine's cheek that he angrily brushed away. Blaine moved to stand up from the couch away from Kurt but Kurt held him steady and pulled him close.

"Blaine, I promise again that Mark never was that important to me. I honestly don't remember every saying that, but I won't deny that I might have done. Do you know that when I moved to LA I was rejected by five agencies before I found the one I am now signed with?"

Blaine looked at Kurt in confusion. "No."

Kurt nodded at him and carried on. "They rejected me not for my talent or looks. They rejected me because they said that I would never get interesting roles as an out gay actor and they were frustrated that I refused to tone down who I was. When I was finally signed by Sally, she told me that if I was going to be out, we were going to be very forward about my sexuality and my relationship. She told me that I had to turn it in to a selling point and normalize it by making Mark in to a solid and stable part of my life, in a way that middle America could at least understand, even if they were not willing to agree with it.'

'I know why Sally did it but it certainly made things much harder for me and Mark. Mark struggled with the lie that we were portraying. Behind closed doors we were trying to see if we had any emotional connection at all but out in public we had to be long term partners totally in love. That's probably why we stayed together for two years. Sadly for him it didn't help his career at all. He told me that on at least two occasions he was referred to at auditions as Kurt Hummel's boyfriend."

Blaine looked at Kurt quietly. "Wow. I wish I had known that before. God… I almost feel sorry for Mark."

Kurt nodded. "I feel very guilty about it all. It was not easy for Mark to be my partner out there."

Blaine looked at him consideringly but did not respond to the open door that the comment had created. Instead he turned back to his guitar and started to remove the cut strings. Kurt did not know if he was relieved or disappointed to not be having this conversation just yet. He did not broach the subject either, feeling that it was not appropriate for Christmas Day.

Instead Kurt helped Blaine to remove the broken strings and then watched as Blaine spent the next hour lovingly restringing his favourite instrument. When he was finished and had the guitar perfectly tuned, Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt and pulled him in to a warm, solid and deep hug.

"Thank you, Kurt. This means more than I have words to say." His voice sounded deep and throaty as though tamping down a storm of emotions.

Kurt returned the hug feeling his eyes well up with tears that he tried to swallow down. He hated that it felt like their time was running out.

* * *

_AN: Please review._


	31. Chapter 31

_AN: Dear lovely readers. I am profusely sorry for the delay. I completely lost my writing mojo in the middle of RL distractions. Whenever I started writing this chapter it just did not come out right. Until this morning when it totally did. _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 31

Blaine trudged up the snow covered steps of TH on his first day back at work after his Christmas holiday. The quiet and the cold of the morning air bit at him and only served to heighten the melancholy in his heart. He knew that he was being overly dramatic but his insides felt weighted down by lead and all he wanted to do was crawl back in to his bed and sleep for a year.

Kurt had left. Well… more accurately, Kurt had gone to LA for five days to audition and meet with his agent. Blaine wished that he could say that he had reacted well but no… the fight had been legendary. To make up for it Blaine had driven Kurt to the airport but the silence in the car had made them both wish that Kurt had asked Burt instead.

Blaine knew that he had to screw his head back on right. He had been expecting this for weeks. He knew that Kurt's life was not in Columbus and that it would be a ridiculous hope to expect him to drop his career to stay. Kurt had challenged him, mid-fight, to join him in LA but Blaine had responded somewhat insensitively by comparing LA to a land of orange monkeys and effectively rubbishing the request. Blaine knew as soon as he said it that he was being a douchebag but he honestly couldn't shut his mouth fast enough to prevent the hurt insults from flying.

He just felt so abandoned again. How could life be so cruel as to give him a glimpse of everything that he wanted desperately and then snatch it away for a second time? Instead Blaine was left with an empty apartment, a cold bed and a day back in the office with the usual drama. He idly wondered if he was getting ready to move on from TH. Some mornings it was hard to remember to care about the all the ins and outs of the teenage angst that the kids would shoot at him. Woe betide any kid today that tried to have a go at him. He was simply itching for some target practice.

* * *

Jack bounced in to Blaine's office about half an hour before his session time. Blaine pushed his chair around and glared at him pointedly.

"What dude?" Jack laughed. "I finished a quiz early, so I totally have permission to be here and you would be bored without me brightening your life. I know these things."

Blaine rolled his eyes and started saving the documents that he had been working on and closing down his computer.

"Wow. You are in a BAD mood," Jack piped up, still far too chirpy for Blaine's liking. "Is this because Kurt is in LaLa land? He's coming back in like four days, you know."

Blaine almost growled in frustration but then bit down his anger and tried to remember that he was the professional in this relationship and therefore should not be acting like the teenager in the room. He gathered his wits about him, pasted a fake smile on his face and turned back to Jack. "I'm fine Jack. Let's focus on you."

"WOAH! Creepy face shift. No way Dude, you are in deep and I think we need to therapize you!" Blaine bit his bottom lip in frustration but Jack had an absolutely infectious grin on his face. "Let's get out of here. You can buy me ice cream and I can make you feel better."

Blaine tried to resist the human tornado that was Jack at this moment, but really, Jack was already out the door of his office and halfway down the hall before he even thought to attempt to dissuade him. And who was he kidding? Blaine had been itching to leave the premises since he arrived that morning. At least this was a legitimate excuse.

He grabbed his coat, made sure he had his wallet and then followed the shadow of Jack that was currently smirking at him around the corner waiting for him to catch up. Just as they were opening the front door, the Director came out of his office. Blaine groaned inwardly as Jack explained very enthusiastically that he was taking Blaine out to sort out all of the man's problems and to not expect them back any time soon. The Director cast Blaine a questioning look and Blaine painted on his most charming grin and stated this was an ice cream run and they would be back by lunch. He then ducked out quickly before the Director could ask any more pointed questions.

On the sidewalk he grabbed Jack by the back of his jacket and pulled him back in to him in a mostly playful headlock. "What do you think you are doing right now?"

"Dude…you should have seen your face! OW, OW… not the hair, DON'T mess with the hair."

Blaine let Jack go with a playful shove and then pushed his hands deep in his pockets. At least the lead weight in his chest was disappearing. It was truly hard to feel sorry for yourself when you had a 17 year old bouncing around, doing a fair impression of a Golden Retriever.

Jack chatted on about all the gossip he had missed at TH while he had been away over Christmas break. Blaine knew some of it from the sessions with other kids that he had had that morning but he couldn't help be amused by the pranks that the kids had successfully pulled on the staff. He found himself filing away bits and pieces to tell Kurt when he came back.

"How is it being back Jack?"

Jack stopped midflow and hesitated. Then he shrugged. "Fine, I guess. Everyone's being nice to me. I feel like I am old news really as so much has happened over the Christmas that I wasn't there for. And some kids are totally jealous that I am being fostered… so that's kind of awesome."

"Do you miss living at TH?"

Jack looked at him as if he was off his head. "No, man. All that drama? It's fun to hear about but…ugh… it just did my head in living in the middle of all those hormones."

Blaine nodded, swallowing the smirk that the pretentious comment from Jack had sparked. How a bag of walking hormones like Jack could accuse others of too much drama… Blaine found that endlessly amusing. Again, something else to share with Kurt.

Jack pushed open the door of the coffee shop and bounded over to the ice cream counter. He studied the ice cream flavours with a look of deep concentration as though he could not recite them by heart. Blaine ordered a root beer float and a cup of coffee, feeling that he should dose up on all the caffeine he could get. Jack ordered a three scoop monstrosity of Superman ice cream, chocolate and moosetracks. He looked like he was in heaven.

Once they were both settled at a table, Jack put on his best serious face and pretended to study Blaine deeply, while smearing blue ice cream all over his mouth. Blaine practically snorted the root beer out of his nose in amusement.

"So, how is living with the Hummels?"

Jack looked a little unsure of whether he should let Blaine off the hook so easily but then his need to be centre of attention kicked in and he started to prattle away again happily.

"Oh man, they are great. Did Kurt tell you? Burt has offered me an apprenticeship in his garage. He's going to teach me how to fix cars and then pay me for every hour that I work for him so that I can save up for a car. It's flipping awesome. Do you know if I could take Driver's Ed next semester? I never saw the point before but I do now."

Blaine said that he would look in to it, while inside he was dancing at the idea that Jack would so easily mention taking a class at a local high school. That was some serious progress right there.

"Carol is sweet too. She is such a Mom. I mentioned that my Mom used to make the most awesome oatmeal raisin cookies and then the next day she came home with like all these ingredients. The best bit was she didn't just make the cookies, she let me help and we made like literally eight batches until we got the mix right so that they tasted like my Mom's. It was amazing. The whole house smelled of cinnamon for three days after."

"How did you not save us any?" Blaine asked.

"Dude, you guys disappeared off the face of the planet. Burt said that you were "figuring stuff out" which I assume meant fighting about Kurt's job. Anyway whatever, the cookies were amazing. You snooze… you lose."

Blaine flushed a little at the acknowledgement that since Christmas he and Kurt had been really antisocial as they had been deep in their own angst. He thanked every lucky star going that Burt and Carol were making such steady in roads with Jack.

"What did you do for New Years?" Blaine asked.

"We went to Finn and Shannon's house. Those kids are so cute. Jonah was all dressed up as a Buckeye football player and Dana was wearing a demon fairy costume. Finn says that she will only wear cute girly things if she can then ruin the effect with gruesome face paint. That girl is such a rock chick already."

"Sorry we missed it."

"It's OK. Everyone just assumed that you both were screwing eachother's brains out in between all of the arguments."

Blaine almost choked on vanilla ice cream. There were times when Jack could be so sweet and endearing, that Blaine almost forgot the crude, cynical character lurking in the background. Then he would reappear suddenly and shock everyone.

Jack smirked at him knowingly and wolfed down the next bit of his humungous ice cream. They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"So if Kurt gets the parts he is auditioning for are you both moving to LA?" Jack asked nonchalantly.

Blaine looked at Jack's face closely and saw a flash of unease.

Blaine sighed. "I don't know Jack. I don't think so. My life is here and Kurt's life is there. I would be miserable in LA and I know that Kurt would be miserable if he lived here permanently." He tried hard not to sound as defeated as he felt but he knew that he had failed.

"But you guys can't split up! You are like Troy and what's her name…that shit musical thing… you are destined long lost… totally meant to be together... people."

Blaine looked at Jack in bitter amusement. "Sadly that's not how these things work Jack. Kurt needs to act to live and feel satisfied but my life is here and I wouldn't last five minutes in LA."

"Dude, that's ridiculous. Move to California for fuck's sake. It's sunny, warm and totally awesome. Kurt showed me photos of his place out there and it's like crazy cool. You could totally live there and if Kurt dumps your ass there will be huge numbers of hot guys for you to fuck yourself better with."

Blaine was taken aback by the vehemence of Jack's comments. "And what about you, Jack? Who is going to check in with you and make sure that you are OK?"

Total disquiet flashed across Jack's face and Blaine knew in that moment that he was seeing one of Jack's masks. "Like you are that important to me? I have a family now and I'm sure TH would replace you in a heart beat. The new therapist would probably be much better than your sorry ass anyway. Besides I'll get to visit you guys in LA… SWEET!"

Blaine's heart filled with love for the kid in that moment. Jack, who had been through everything and lost all of the people closest to him, was trying to be so completely self-sacrificing and let Blaine know that he could go. God bless the kid. Seriously, Blaine knew in that moment that if the roles were reversed he would never be able to do what Jack was doing for him now.

"Buddy, while I am eternally grateful for the permission and amused that you think that I can be so easily replaced…I'm not moving to LA." He saw a look of pure relief flood in to Jack's eyes. God, what that last comment must have cost Jack, he could not even imagine. "Listen, I have been to LA and to be honest, I hate it. Hearing about Kurt's life out there makes me hate it even more. I couldn't do that and deep down Kurt wouldn't ask that of me. He knows and I know that that wouldn't work and that's what makes this so unbelievably difficult."

Jack's brow furrowed in bewilderment. "That's so weird. You couldn't be a Social Worker out there?"

"I could," Blaine acknowledged, "and I could probably find a job that I really liked. But I couldn't be the partner of someone in the Hollywood circuit. It is a total zoo out there and a life of living up to other people's standards and expectations. I refuse to live that life and you may not understand that now but when you are older I promise this will make sense to you."

Jack bristled at the age comment but didn't refute it. "So you are just going to let him go? After all this time?"

"I hope not buddy. I'm still praying for a miracle. But in the end, it comes down to a choice between a relationship where one of us is stunted and unhappy, or being apart but both of us living our lives fully, then I think we will have to let each other go."

"That sucks."

"Yeah." Blaine had nothing else to add because it did.

* * *

That night Blaine picked up his guitar for the first time since Christmas Day. It had taken up residence in the corner of the living room and had been calling to him like a siren for days. So far he had resisted the call because, to be honest, he was kind of worried that when he picked it up he may discover that he no longer knew how to play.

He knew on some level that was ridiculous but it did not stop him feeling anxious about it. Tonight though, he had a few bottles of beer in him and the dutch courage meant that he felt confident to pick up the instrument that used to form a big piece of his heart and soul.

He strummed away gently for a while, practicing and re-memorising chord changes until his hands were beginning to remember the finger formation without needing conscious thought. Slowly he began to pick out the chords for songs that he used to play regularly.

He remembered his acoustic version of "Teenage Dream" that he had spent hours piecing together in his dorm at Dalton while thinking about the elusive spy at McKinley who was worming his way in to his heart. He felt his eyes begin to well up at the memory and he could feel his heart begin to crack.

Just as his morose thoughts kicked all the way in, his laptop chirped with an incoming Skype call. He looked up to see Kurt's icon and clicked to accept it without thinking.

"Hey… Blaine… are you crying?"

Blaine almost kicked himself for not thinking that through better as he stared at Kurt's worried face through his laptop.

"No, no… it's OK."

Blaine got up hurriedly from the couch, moving the guitar off his lap and went to find some tissues.

"Were you playing guitar?" Kurt asked loudly through the computer.

"Um…yeah."

"And you were crying again? Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry."

Blaine sat back on the couch, having wiped up his face a bit and looked at Kurt.

"Don't worry. I'm just being stupid and I miss you. How did it go today?"

Kurt looked at him with an unreadable expression that filled Blaine with uncertainty. "Um… it's a bit mixed really. It's nice to be back but you should see the scripts they have sent me. Honestly Jonah could write them better. And I have been relegated back to such challenging roles as the main lead's gay brother in a poor rip off of Jack on Will and Grace. Seriously why do screen writers think they can get away with a rehash? It's completely insulting."

"I'm sorry." Although Blaine totally wasn't. He knew he should be more supportive, but every poor script option meant more time before Kurt would commit to moving back.

"Hmm… I don't know. My agent seems to think that this may be the kind of stuff that I will be offered for a while. It's like I have been well and truly typecast as the promiscuous gay character and so no one will consider me for the heavier roles. I might have to try to prove myself all over again."

"Well it probably wouldn't take long, I guess. One of those roles with some decent screen time should get you re-established quite quickly, right?"

"I don't know. What if I took one of these roles and then the series was taken up and I was bound in to a shit character that I despised for years? If I quit another show mid-stream my career here would be over."

"Huh. What's your agent say?"

"She's spreading the net out again in to movies but so far nothing really exciting has come back."

Blaine thought he saw a flash of something in Kurt's eye but he couldn't be sure as it was Skype after all so maybe he was just imagining it.

"So Sally did have one other idea," Kurt continued. "She suggested that I consider theatre for a while to rebuild my serious acting credentials."

"OK?" Blaine felt his heart start to thump a little quicker. Now there was no mistaking the gleam in Kurt's eye.

"She said that she has been contacted by Steppenwolf in Chicago. A place on their permanent cast has come available and the Producer knows me from the movie. They want me to audition there next week."

Blaine could not keep the smile off his face as Kurt grinned back at him. Chicago? That was a 50 minute plane ride from Columbus. Blaine felt his eyes well up with tears again and Kurt too began to look really emotional in his laptop screen.

"Really? Would you consider it?"

"Hell yes!" Kurt said through his tears. "Steppenwolf? That's about as good as theater gets. And Chicago...? And you...? That's a no brainer."

Suddenly it felt like the sun was shining again even though it was about 11pm and the middle of January.

* * *

_There is hope yet folks!_

_Love you all. And thanks to those who suggested Chicago in the reviews. New York had always been my plan but then Chicago fit the bill even better - and it's a city I know well so I feel comfotable writing about it._

_Woot woot!_

_Please review._


	32. Chapter 32

_AN: I have been away in China for the last few weeks. I was not able to post before I left as I had hoped so I am so sorry for the very long delay. I appreciate your patience._

_Without further ado here is part 32 (the penultimate chapter... I think). I will finish this story this week._

* * *

Kurt stood on the snow covered steps of the Field Museum, looking out at his favourite view of Chicago. On his right swept Lake Michigan, gray in the cold of early February with the tide smashing high against the blocks of ice that had formed across the shore. Ahead was Grant Park covered in white with footprints marring the perfect finish. The sun glanced brightly off the surface giving Kurt the perfect opportunity to wear his new Calvin Klein sunglasses. Rising up in the background swept the glorious flow of downtown Chicago with its ornate skyscrapers and bustling streets. He sighed in contentment and nursed the coffee cup in his hands, drawing the heat in through his gloves.

When the ubiquitous wind had stilled and the surroundings exuded the weird quiet of deep winter, he reached in to his pocket for his cell phone and dialled the number.

"Kurt? How was it?"

Kurt smiled in to the phone and purposefully drew out a slightly agonizing pause.

"I think we need to choose the neighbourhood for my new apartment."

He held the phone away from his ear as Blaine whooped loudly in to the receiver.

"You really got it? You know already?"

"Yup. My agent agreed a two year contract that I signed this morning. As a permanent member of the cast I have committed to ten plays in two years with a run of six weeks each. So I guess the other 20 weeks are rehearsal time and such but there is a guarantee of four weeks vacation which I thought was pretty generous."

"That's awesome Kurt. Well done. I can't believe it. You should see me right now. I am dancing around the apartment like a mad man!"

Kurt closed his eyes and bit at the rim of his coffee cup fondly. "I don't have to see you sweetheart. I can imagine it very easily."

"So? What's next?"

"Well, I thought I would come home, get the Glee Club through the February extravaganza, then drag you here to help me apartment hunt. Then I guess I need to sort my life out to move by the beginning of April."

"So soon?"

"Yes. They wanted me to start in March but I told them that I had to pack up LA so they agreed to let me start a play later."

"Oh, that's good." Blaine suddenly sounded deflated. Kurt felt something catch in his chest.

"Blaine? We knew this would be what would happen."

"I know, I know. I just… I like having you around."

Kurt smiled to himself. He knew Blaine felt that way but sometimes hearing the reassurance was great. They had come a long way in six months.

"Well, I'll only be an hour away. We can see each other every week if we want to."

"Yes. It's really good news Kurt. Well done." Blaine still did not sound completely happy or convinced but they both knew that this was the best outcome they could have hoped for. Kurt frowned, wishing desperately that he could see Blaine's face and understand what was going through the frustrating man's head.

"Love, I'll be home tomorrow."

"Great. Your Dad has summoned us to Friday Night dinner. He said that Jack has something that he wants to show us. Will you be back in time?"

"Yes. I've got some things to sort out here but I will meet you there. Any ideas what the secret is?"

"No. But based on Jack's good mood, I am intrigued rather than concerned."

They talked for a few minutes, banding around increasingly insane ideas about what Jack's surprise could be. Finally Blaine told Kurt he had to get back to work. "I love you, Kurt. Travel safe."

"You too Blaine. I promise, everything will work out fine."

"Yeah." There was still the edge of something in Blaine's voice that Kurt could not identify. They hung up but Blaine's mood was still bugging Kurt. He wanted to reach down the phone and shake the melancholy out of his boyfriend. This had been the plan and it was slotting together well. Why now was Blaine acting this way and seemingly moving the goal posts on him? This should be nothing but good news.

Kurt found himself struggling against an irrational level of anger. He swallowed it down and headed back to the hotel. On the way he stopped off at Marshall Field's and picked up a ridiculously expensive folder and a set of obnoxiously bright colored pens. There was nothing like a perfectly color coded organizer to make him feel in control of the chaos. He would have to focus on Blaine later. Now he had some major planning to do.

* * *

A day later Kurt pulled up outside his father's home. The lights were on through out the house causing Kurt to roll his eyes affectionately and mutter some comments about wasted electricity under his breath. Still his heart was warmed by the cheery welcome the house exuded. He grabbed the Fango chocolates from the back seat and walked up the porch steps.

Before he had even opened the door, he felt the wind knocked out of him by a bear hugging armful of Blaine. Thank goodness Blaine had planted himself solidly and pulled Kurt in to him otherwise the force of the hit would have thrown Kurt backwards and in to a snow drift. There would have ended any happy reconciliations. As it was Kurt let out a very girly scream, that was unseemly even for him and then he dropped the chocolates. As Kurt relaxed in to the sudden hug and reminded his lungs how to breathe again, a shadow swept up behind Blaine and retrieved the bag from the door mat.

"Are these for me?" piped up Jack, scooping the chocolate box out of the bag and proceeding to tear in to it immediately.

"NO, you greedy muppet!" Kurt tried vainly to shake off the human octopus currently attached to his limbs in an attempt to save the chocolates. "Get your grubby hands off of them. They are for Carol."

Carol and Burt appeared on cue. "Kurt, thank you."

"Come inside both of you. You are causing us all to freeze." It seemed that Burt's authoritative glare was the only thing that could get Blaine to move. Blaine released his hold on Kurt and kissed him soundly before pulling him inside in to the warmth.

Kurt found himself enveloped in a hug once more, this time from his father. "Good job, kiddo" Burt murmered in to his ear. "I'm very proud of you."

Kurt felt a deep sense of contentment. He pulled his father closer and buried his head in to his shoulder momentarily lost for words. This was the affirmation that he had been looking for for the last six months. It felt good to have earned this praise. His father broke the hug by patting him hard on the back and pushing him towards the stairs. "Go wash up, it's time to eat."

Dinner was a happy and congratulatory affair. Finn's family were with Shannon's parents for the weekend and so were noticeably missing, however Jack seemed to be revelling in all the adult attention that he was getting in the absence of Jonah and Dana.

Blaine was sitting on the same side of the table as Kurt and was taking every opportunity to hold his hand. Kurt was surprised at this overt show of affection as Blaine was usually pretty reserved around Jack but it seemed that with the end of Kurt's time at TH approaching imminently, Blaine had stopped caring. Kurt did not mind at all. It felt nice actually and allayed some of his fears after Blaine's unexpected mood the day before.

Carol and Burt asked all the details of Kurt's new job and discussed different neighbourhoods in Chicago that they were familiar with. It turned out that Carol had lived on the South Side with Finn's father before he joined the military. She had some funny recollections of Bronzeville and suggested some fun Blues spots that he and Blaine should visit.

Finally dessert came and Burt cleared his throat loudly. Jack sat up straighter and looked kind of awkward. "Boys, Jack has something that he is very proud of that he wants to share with you."

Kurt looked at his father for a clue as to what was coming but Burt resolutely ignored his glance and instead looked at Jack expectantly. Jack flushed red and pulled a scrunched up letter out of his back pocket. He slid the envelope over the table to Blaine.

Blaine let go of Kurt's hand and took the letter out. "I don't understand. What is this Jack?"

Jack rolled his eyes and gave Blaine his best patented "you're an idiot" look. "It's an audition."

"Yes I see that. A trumpet audition? For what? Do you play the trumpet Jack?"

Kurt looked between the two of them, feeling totally confused but then he caught a glimple of Carol beaming proudly at Jack. He reached over to Blaine and took the letter to read what was going on for himself.

"It's an audition for band camp at OSU in the summer," Jack told Blaine. "I thought it sounded fun."

Blaine still looked on surprised.

"Look, I used to play the trumpet in middle school. I was actually an active part of that band and they were pretty good. It wasn't cool in High School so I did theatre instead… and we all know how that turned out. Anyway Finn was talking about Ohio State and playing football. I mentioned that my favorite part of the game was seeing the Marching Band as it always looked so much fun. He told me that one of his friends had played the sousaphone in the band and had got a full scholarship and gone on loads of trips during the year and attended all the games. He made it sound like a blast.'

'Anyway one day I mentioned to Carol that I was sad that I no longer was a part of band and she came home the next day with an application form for this camp. I wasn't going to fill it in but Burt paid for me to have a few trumpet lessons at a music school and the tutor told me that he thought that I would be good enough as long as I practiced. So I have been practicing and Carol helped me fill in the application. Every year the OSU music director chooses a few kids to try out for the Marching Band from the camp. I'm sure that won't happen to me. Hell, I probably won't even get in the camp in the first place but I thought I would try, you know?"

Kurt felt his eyes tear up. Jack was playing it cool but you only had to look at the kid to see how excited he was to be offered an audition. Blaine looked a bit more concerned but responded warmly and congratulated Jack for taking the initiative and going for it. Jack glowed at the praise and went uncharacteristically bashful. He started to fiddle with his napkin and did not seem able to meet Blaine's eyes.

Carol broke the moment with a declaration that she needed some strong men to help her with the washing up and the meal ended amicably with the usual hustle of the table being cleared and the washing up started. Carol and Burt were soon dispatched to the living room as the other three took over the tidy up operation. Jack returned to his happy, snarky self and soon had Blaine and Kurt in stitches over the latest antics of the kids at TH.

* * *

That night Kurt and Blaine lay together on Blaine's bed listening to the strains of Bob Dylan playing in the background. Blaine's head was resting on Kurt's chest and Kurt ran his hands through Blaine's curls soothingly.

He was expecting Blaine to fall asleep as he often did early on a Friday night. The week tended to take everything out of Blaine and he usually was not that engaged until he had woken up late on Saturday morning. Kurt knew from experience that it was pointless having a heart to heart with Blaine on a Friday and so he was planning to broach the Chicago issue the following day.

Instead he felt Blaine stir and turn around to face Kurt.

"I really love you, you know." Blaine said.

"I know. I love you too."

Blaine smiled a bit dopily at this and leaned up to kiss Kurt gently on the lips. There was an edge of something in the kiss that Kurt could not identify and he looked questioningly at Blaine when he caught his eye.

Blaine bit his lip anxiously. "I want something," he said. Kurt furrowed his brow in response. Blaine drew in a breath. "I want you to make love to me."

Kurt felt his heart skip a beat. Even though they had been sleeping together since October, they had not done this yet. Blaine had stopped him that first night and Kurt had not had the guts to push the subject. He had waited instead for Blaine to indicate that he was ready and now it seemed that Blaine was doing this.

"Are you sure?"

Blaine's eyes softened. "Yeah. I'm sure. You will have to go really slowly as it has been years, but I want you."

Kurt had no idea why that declaration had such an effect on him but a shiver went straight through him and he felt his cock react immediately. Blaine's eyes darkened at the lust he must have seen in Kurt's face. He bent down to Kurt's neck and began sucking just under his earlobe.

Kurt growled once but then realised that this was not what Blaine had asked for. He had asked to be made love to and if that was what he wanted, Kurt was only too happy to oblige. He gently pushed Blaine up off of him and rolled them both so that Blaine was on his back and he was straddling Blaine's hips. Now that he was above Blaine he could see the expression in his face. The desire was evident and the effect was instantaneous. Kurt felt lust pool in his stomach, spreading warmth through his body. He began to kiss every inch of exposed skin available to him. When his lips encountered clothes he was shocked to hear himself actually growl in frustration. He heard Blaine chuckle below him.

"It's OK. Let me…" Off came Blaine's top and in a mammoth show of restraint, Kurt moved up and away from Blaine long enough for him to shuck his jeans too. There was the sculpted chest and abdomen that Kurt knew so well. He began licking and nibbling his way along the lines when a thought occurred to his sex adled brain.

He looked up and rested his chin on Blaine's abs. "How long?"

"Huh?" Blaine was sprawled on his back and moved his hand to Kurt's hair to encourage him in his explorations. Kurt resisted the move. Instead he pinched Blaine's hip. "How long?" he repeated.

"How long what?" Blaine asked thickly. He raised his head in frustration and eyed Kurt.

"How long since you let someone in?"

Blaine was quiet for a few moments and Kurt waited for the answer. He already thought he knew what it was but he wanted Blaine to confirm his guess.

"You were the last person, Kurt." Blaine looked so vulnerable in that moment that Kurt felt an overwhelming need to protect him. He surged up over Blaine and began to kiss him deeply and lovingly all over again. He tried to communicate promises that he would be gentle and careful with the precious soul and body in his hands. He hoped that his soothing, loving touches would convey that promise without the need for words as he did not feel that he would be able to form coherent sentences at this point. His brain had well and truly short circuited. Somehow his animal instincts now took over instead and he felt himself growling almost possessively in to Blaine's mouth.

Blaine responded by whimpering back and again directed Kurt back down his body with his hands. Somewhere along the way, Blaine managed to grab the back of Kurt's shirt and hike it up off his back and over his head. Kurt was very grateful as he was not at all sure that he now had the presence of mind to achieve such a basic task.

Instead Kurt went back to worshipping the man's body and took great care in rubbing, massaging and nibbling the skin of his arms, chest and torso. Gently he licked his way down Blaine's treasure trail and breathed in the earthy scent of man as he began to lick his cock.

Blaine's hand tightened in Kurt's hair and began rubbing circles in to the back of Kurt's neck encouraging him on. Kurt returned the sentiment by taking Blaine in his mouth and sucking him to full arousal. He used one hand to massage Blaine's balls and with the other he encouraged Blaine to spread his legs apart so that he could run his finger over Blaine's hole.

Blaine murmured happily and his breathing began to pick up. Kurt heard the drawer next to the bed open and then felt a lube bottle tap him on his shoulder. He looked up gratefully from his position between Blaine's legs and took the bottle and condom from Blaine without releasing him from his mouth.

Blaine arched his back and smiled lustfully at him. "You are so fucking hot Kurt. Jesus."

Kurt licked him one last time, satisfied that he was fully aroused and then sat back to lube up his hand. He tried to remember the last few times he had fingered Blaine and how far he had got before Blaine had shown discomfort. He knew that Blaine would be happy with two and could manage three fingers. He decided that he would take his time and try for four tonight, just to ensure that Blaine was as comfortable as possible before he entered him.

He looked down at Blaine, who looked up at him with an open, trusting expression in his eyes. "Are you sure, sweetheart? We don't have to do this tonight."

"Kurt, shut up and get on with it."

Kurt smirked at his lover's impatience. That was the best indication that he needed that everything was good. He briefly considered saluting Blaine but decided that sarcasm right now would destroy the mood. Instead he encouraged Blaine's legs on to his shoulders and began to play with his hole, rubbing and inserting fingers while enjoying the emotions that swept across Blaine's face. "You are beautiful, just like this Blaine. Open and waiting for me. You are absolutely gorgeous. Relax love, I've got you."

After a number of minutes, Blaine was a hot, sweaty mess. He was actually beginning to keen with the stimulation and had entwined his hands deep in to bed sheets on either side of him. His eyes were shut and his face was twisted away to one side, neck taut, straining with the sensations of his body. His cock was an angry red, extended fully against his belly and leaking on to his skin. Kurt swiped his tongue over the liquid on his belly and lapped up the essence of desire and Blaine.

Then Blaine started begging. Kurt was sure he had never been so turned on in his life. The thought that this beautiful man had not allowed anyone else to do this to him and to see him in this way made Kurt ache deep inside. Kurt twisted his hand once more inside Blaine, brushing over his prostate. Blaine let out a deep rooted gasp and his eyes flew open.

"Now Kurt, please, I want you, now."

Kurt removed his fingers slowly and put the condom on. He ensured that he was well coated in lube and then pulled Blaine's legs towards him lining them both up together.

As he moved over Blaine he gently cupped the man's face with his hand.

"Keep your eyes open and look at me."

Blaine blinked at him and then nodded. A breathy "please" dropped from his lips and Kurt leaned down to kiss him before re-establishing eye contact and pushing in slowly. Both men let out grunts of desire and lust as Kurt inched his way in. Blaine moved his legs up around Kurt's back and pulled himself further along Kurt's body until he stopped momentarily, his eyes screwed up in pain.

Kurt stopped immediately, about three quarters in, and leaned down to kiss Blaine, giving him time to relax his body and adjust. "It's OK. Keep breathing and open your eyes."

Blaine whimpered a little but slowly opened his eyes again and re-established contact. Kurt waited until he saw the cloud of pain disperse. "OK love, here we go. Almost there."

Kurt thrust in again and this time got all the way in, before he felt Blaine begin to retreat again. He waited patiently and rubbed his knuckles along Blaine's side. "Relax love, the best part is here."

Blaine, once again, opened his eyes and slowly unwound in Kurt's gaze. He leaned up and kissed Kurt on the nose while pulling Kurt closer to him with his legs. Kurt began to thrust gently and the whimpers of pain turned in to lust and desire quickly. Blaine began to show increasing levels enjoyment and soon the two men were clawing in to each other as the passion ignited and the curl of orgasm began to wind its way through their bellies.

Their eyes remained locked on each other as Kurt shifted his hips to ensure that each thrust brushed across Blaine's prostate. Blaine began to cry out loud and tightened his hold on Kurt. "More, please Kurt, MORE".

Kurt let all hesitation drop and slammed in to Blaine hard, keeping his eyes locked in the hazel depths of his lover. He watched in awe as Blaine arched his body of the bed and screamed his release, showing no inhibitions at all. He then thrust his way to completion a few more times and felt his own cry ripped from his throat as he allowed his orgasm to pour in to Blaine's body, shielded by the condom.

Both men collapsed in to each other breathing heavily, sliding in sweat. They held on to each other tightly as they both slowly unwound and came down off their highs. Kurt felt Blaine move to kiss his hair and noticed that Blaine's body was shuddering from the exertion beneath him.

Slowly as he became more aware of what was happening, he realised that the shuddering was not from exertion but instead Blaine was crying. To be more accurate, actually Blaine was sobbing heartbrokenly.

Kurt looked up quickly and met Blaine's eyes. Blaine tried to roll away but Kurt had him pinned down and used the position to his advantage. He held Blaine in place and kissed his face gently, trying to make soothing noises as his brain ran at a mile a minute.

What the hell was going on?

* * *

_AN: So I expect the final chapter will be up in the next few days. Thanks so much for you patience._

_I am still kicking around the idea for a sequel... but I am thinking that I may need to join the reform school! bandwagon first. Anyone up for badboy! Blaine and Kurt? _

_Please review._


	33. Chapter 33

_AN: Here it is guys! The last chapter. I'm actually really proud of this. Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 33

Blaine was a trembling wreck of a mess. On top of this he was feeling completely pathetic as he knew that by all rights he should be on cloud nine. He was just mad. Mad at Fate for taking away his partner, his lover, his soulmate and moving him to another city. He tried to rationalise an hour's flight, but when his brain added in check in time and travelling to the airport, he knew that really this was three hours plus and that just seemed too much. Especially as for the last four months Kurt had been in his bed most nights and in his arms most mornings.

There was no doubt that Chicago was absolutely the right call and Blaine felt so selfish being depressed about this, but he could not stop himself. He felt as if he was being shredded in to little tiny pieces. And then there was the voice, the prickly nasty voice deep in his head that he wanted to bury with a shovel. The voice that told him that Chicago was a hot bed of beautiful gay men and Kurt would have his pick of them. The voice that just would not shut up about all of Blaine's insecurities that he would never be enough for Kurt.

He did not want to tell Kurt about this voice. To admit that he was still struggling to trust Kurt completely after everything they had been through in the last six months felt like a total betrayal. But there he was, Blaine Anderson, human being, full of insecurity and just waiting to be rejected once more. He could not stop the feeling in his heart that everything he wanted most fiercely in this World was about to be ripped out of his grasp. And to be honest, he knew that he had a self sabotage button a mile wide. If Kurt did not leave him, heavens knew, Blaine was capable of pushing the button to end the relationship all on his own.

So here he was in the arms of the most precious man in his world, after a deeply connecting and intimate moment and instead of savouring the situation, he was sobbing like a baby. He needed air and space and God help him, some way out of this situation without destroying everything he had in one night.

He attempted to move again out from under Kurt and winced at the soreness already present in his lower back. It was a good ache, but very present none-the-less. Kurt held him tighter and tried to keep him still. Blaine focussed and opened his eyes, reaching up to cup his hand to Kurt's face gently.

He spoke carefully and he hoped reassuringly, trying to calm the nerves in his own body and the flashes of fear in Kurt's eyes. "Kurt, I love you and that was perfect. I just need a moment."

Kurt looked hesitant and really concerned. For a second, Blaine thought that he was going to refuse the request but then he broke the hold and moved. Blaine bolted upright and sat in the bed with the covers over him hugging his knees to himself and gathering his thoughts. He tried very hard to ignore that Kurt was sitting on the other side of the bed looking cut off from him and bereft, clearly wondering what he should do next.

Blaine rubbed his face with his hand and then summoned up all his courage. He could not bring himself to look Kurt in the eyes and instead put his head on his knees.

"It's too much Kurt. I am so scared. I don't know that I can let you go."

He heard a whimper of confusion and then felt arms move around him holding him tight.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked tentatively, kissing deep in to Blaine's hair.

Blaine tried to form a coherent thought process from all of his disjointed ideas that were floating around. He wasn't sure what he meant either. He just knew he meant something really important. He groped around in the dark of his mind to pull out an answer but drew a blank. However a deep calm stole over him from his heart and when he sank in to the calm, he knew:

"I can't let you go to Chicago alone."

That was it. The truth of that statement rung so clearly through Blaine that he suddenly realised he had been building to this thought for weeks. He turned to face Kurt now and looked him deep in the eyes certain in his conviction. Kurt looked absolutely stunned.

"Kurt, I love you and I threw that love away once before because I was scared. I thought that I would never be enough for you and I thought that you needed more than I could give. I was a fool. I am not going to make that mistake twice."

He took Kurt's hand from where it was resting on Blaine's hip and brought it to his lips. "You have sacrificed everything for me in the last six months. You have shown me in every possible way how much I mean to you and how important this relationship is for you. Now it's my turn. I love you. I know that without a shadow of a doubt. I want to give you everything that I have and the thought of spending days away from you is so physically painful to me that I can't let it happen.'

Kurt's eyes filled with tears but they did not fall. He just stared at Blaine in amazement and allowed Blaine to kiss every one of the knuckles on his hand.

"Kurt, I am willing to leave my job and my home to move to Chicago with you. Will you let me do that?"

Kurt's silence broke immediately. "Of course. You know the answer. You never had to doubt it. Of course."

Both men melted down in each other's arms and fell back together on the bed. The tears and kisses this time were filled with much more joy and there was no fear or bitterness left. Blaine felt a feeling of total peace flood his heart. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was finally making the right decision for this relationship.

* * *

The February Extravaganza ate their lives for the next two weeks. The kids were really excited and over the course of the five months that Kurt and Blaine had been working with them, they had developed significantly in confidence and skill. Now Kurt worked flat out to make costumes, set pieces and general sparkly bits to accent the concert of five songs that the students were going to perform.

Blaine helped out when he could around his other commitments but he had to admit that he kind of loved turning up to the art room at all hours of the day and evening and finding Kurt surrounded by TH students putting together crazy patterns and fabrics and designing outlandish outfits. The students loved it. Some of them worked with him steadily to help out but others just came to chill and do their own art pieces in good company. Sarah Peters looked more harassed than normal with the high traffic of people going through her art room, however when Blaine caught up with her at meals she was also kind of glowing with a bright energy that came from the satisfaction of seeing the kids happy.

The other staff also noticed the buzz. On the floors, the kids involved with Glee were constantly in corners rehearsing and harmonising. The other kids were seeking ways to be involved and Kurt with his stellar organisational lists had a slew of projects he dispatched out, big and small, depending on each student's ability to handle the job. This meant that the vibe at TH was buzzing and as a result there were far fewer instances of kids in distress than normal which raised morale in general through the students and the staff.

Blaine was reminded again of Kurt's enviable organisational skills. He had not started dating Kurt yet when the kid single-handedly organised his father and Carol's wedding, but that story was the stuff of legends (even if Blaine did not quite believe Finn's statements about doves and glitter). Here Kurt was in his element running around with brightly colored checklists and ticking jobs off with pride. He never once got shirty or rude to a kid, although a few of the adults received a tongue lashing if they did not deliver on their assigned tasks.

At home Kurt had a second folder with all of his move-on plans. The majority of these were focussed for March but the lists kept growing longer and longer. He and Kurt were scheduled to spend a long weekend in Chicago apartment hunting in the Bucktown/ Wicker Park area. Kurt had decided that Blaine would be happier with the hipsters rather than nearer the lake where the appeal of Boystown could be overwhelming. Blaine did not know Chicago nearly as well as Kurt but was relieved that Kurt did not make him specifically request to live miles away from the Gay Club strip.

They had agreed that Blaine would move to Chicago in July so that he would not disrupt the kids too much during their academic year. The summer was always a big time of change for the kids anyway so the shift should not be too jarring. So far only Mr Selby, the Director, knew about Blaine's plans and he had been very supportive, offering to write an introduction letter to a sister facility in Chicago should Blaine decide he wanted to work in a similar job.

Blaine was not sure what he wanted to do yet but he thought he would take some time off over the summer to think about it. Kurt was excited about this plan and mentioned the summer hiatus of Steppenwolf. He was currently advocating that they should go on vacation to Europe, but Blaine, while loving the idea on one level, thought that throwing a long vacation in to the mix while they were both uprooting their lives and starting fresh may just be one step too far. So far Kurt had just rolled his eyes and let the matter drop but Blaine knew better than to think that the discussion was anywhere near finished.

* * *

In the midst of all this frenzy of planning, there was one thing that Blaine kept putting off. He had not told Jack that he was leaving. He justified this by telling himself that none of the other kids knew yet and he had months to go. He knew though that this was pure cowardice. Kurt didn't say a word about it. He also did not mention Blaine's plans to his parents. He said simply that this was Blaine's news to tell when he was ready. Blaine knew that he should say something but he felt that he was really letting Jack down and so he avoided the conversation at all costs.

Finally things came to a head over the dinner table following a very innocent question from Dana.

"Uncle Blaine, are you going to Chicago with Uncle Kurt?"

Blaine tried to deflect the question as best he could.

"Not at first Dana but maybe someday."

The conversation around the table had now stopped and all eyes were focussed on Blaine and the little girl in his lap.

"But won't you be very sad without Uncle Kurt to keep you company?"

Blaine looked over at Kurt for support and diversion but Kurt just smiled stoically back, clearly communicating that now was the time to come clean. Bastard.

"Well, Uncle Kurt is going to be very busy and so will I, honey. He and I will see each other a lot though."

"But not everyday. Daddy says that Uncle Kurt likes to see you everyday. He says that's why Uncle Kurt is never home to read me my goodnight story in his voices. He says that Uncle Kurt needs YOU to tell him stories at night and so that's why he sleeps so much at your house. Who will tell Uncle Kurt stories and kiss him goodnight if you are not there?"

Blaine looked up at Finn, who had the decency to blush and look embarrassed for landing Blaine in this impossible situation. Jack sat next to Finn, sitting bolt upright, hanging on every word that was being said.

Blaine swallowed and looked at the little girl who was staring up at him innocently clearly waiting for an answer.

"Well, I dunno Dana. Maybe I'll have to think about going to Chicago too."

"Good, or else you will both be very sad," Dana sounded totally sure of herself as she turned away from him and started eating her ice cream.

Blaine was aware that he was still blushing deeply. The other adults at the table were looking at him with a mixture of amusement and surprise on their faces. Jack was not making eye contact.

After dinner while Blaine was helping clear the table, Jack pulled him to one side and started speaking in a voice that could clearly be heard by everyone.

"Is it true?"

"Is what true, Jack?"

"What you said to Dana. Are you thinking about moving to Chicago with Kurt?"

Blaine would never contemplate lying to Jack and so he gave in at that moment.

"Yes."

Jack went from looking angry to pale and his eyes welled up.

"Jack, please don't be upset…" Blaine reached out to put a comforting hand on Jack's shoulder.

"Fuck off Blaine." Jack physically shrugged his hand away. "Like I care. I don't need you. I told you you could fuck off to LA didn't I? Why should I care about Chicago. It doesn't matter."

With that Jack moved around Blaine and ran off up the stairs to his room. Blaine moved to go after him but Burt called to him from the sofa.

"Leave him, Blaine. Give him some time to pull himself together."

Carol came up behind Blaine. "It's OK sweetheart. I've got this." She slipped up the stairs after Jack, leaving Blaine feeling awful, standing alone in the hall.

Kurt came up behind him and pulled him in to a hug. "It was right that you told him. He will be OK, Blaine. He will. Carol is really good with sad boys… and men… she will help him to feel better, I promise."

Blaine nodded and allowed himself to relax in to Kurt's hold. He caught sight of Burt's eyes in the living room. The man nodded to him and looked on supportively.

A few minutes later, when Kurt and Blaine were ready to leave, Burt came to the door to see them out. He pulled both Kurt and Blaine in to a hug together and then said, "I'm glad you boys are looking out for each other again."

Blaine was bowled over by the flow of warmth that went through him from that simple validation of his decision.

* * *

In the days leading up to the Extravaganza, Jack did not come to see Blaine once. He always had some show related excuse and random extra rehearsal spots. Blaine decided not to push the issue but just gave the boy his space. Instead Blaine just focussed on keeping Kurt sane, eating and sleeping. This was a tougher chore than it sounded with the human whirlwind that Kurt became. The day of the show, Blaine could not have been happier that the end was finally in sight.

The show itself was beautiful. A lot of parents and staff, current and old, attended. The kids performed extremely well. They worked together as a team and listened to each other as they sang. Their rendition of Stand by Me brought tissues out in the crowd and Kurt was beaming from the sidelines by the end.

The audience gave the kids a standing ovation but just as everyone thought the show was over, Jack stepped forward and took the microphone. Blaine looked over at Kurt in confusion but Kurt looked equally bemused and a little flustered at having his perfectly choreographed show usurped.

Jack stood tall however and it quickly became clear that if Blaine and Kurt had no idea what was going on, the rest of the show choir did. They all started smiling to each other and bristling with excitement. The audience fell quiet again and waited for Jack to speak.

"Thank you. I just have something to say to Kurt and Blaine. I don't know if you know but Kurt was our singing teacher for six months. He and Blaine, a Social Worker here, gave a lot of time and effort to help us put this show on. We weren't always the nicest group to work with…" A number of people in the audience laughed briefly but quickly silence resumed and you could have heard a pin drop.

"…but they stuck with us, especially Kurt, who really did not have to. We all want to say thank you Kurt." Kurt blushed and moved forward to give Jack a hug and thank the rest of the choir too but Jack was not done yet.

"Hold on. Blaine, can you come up here?" Blaine looked over at his colleagues on the side. He caught the eye of Sarah Peters, who smiled at him with a very knowing grin. She was in on this, as were a few other staff members clearly. They urged him to the front and he moved quickly, feeling very uncomfortable for not knowing where this was going. He went to stand on the other side of Jack.

Jack started again. "Blaine, we know that you are going to be leaving us soon to move with Kurt to Chicago." Blaine bit his lip feeling the mortification sink in. Clearly from the lack of surprised gasps the rumour mill had been spreading nicely as he had not officially made the announcement on his own. He was going to kill Jack.

"Blaine, we all just wanted to thank you for everything that you have done for all of us. We are sad to see you go but when I suggested that we chain you up and force you to stay I was told that that was illegal. So instead Ms Peters encouraged the choir to think of a song to sing to you and Kurt to express our feelings. We hope this is OK."

Blaine looked at Kurt, who smiled back at him, both men feeling so overwhelmed in that moment. Jack was clearly waiting for a response from Blaine. He nodded quickly, too overcome to say anything else. Kurt came over quickly and took Blaine's hand leading him to some spare seats in the front row.

Jack stood at the front and started singing the first verse on his own. Then Mike came out with his guitar and started to back Jack up. Line by line the rest of the group harmonised to his words and sang along to the chorus.

_You didn't know I was watching but I was_

_The smile was hard to deny_

_You didn't know I was listening but I was_

_You did not perceive how you helped me believe_

_There is love outside these limits_

_There is life outside these fences_

_Now I live the dream that you dreamed for me_

_Thank you_

_You didn't know that I was falling but I was_

_Searching to see if there was something in me_

_You didn't know I was waiting but I was_

_Hoping to break free and you gave me eyes to see_

_There is love outside these limits_

_There is life outside these fences_

_Now I live the dream that you dreamed for me_

_Thank you_

_In all my days how could I repay all the gifts you gave to me_

_Now I see_

_There is love outside these limits_

_There is life outside these fences_

_Now I live the dream that you dreamed for me_

_Thank you_

_(You dreamed for me by Jami Smith)_

Blaine felt tears build up and he squeezed Kurt's hand tight in his. Kurt squeezed tight back and very obviously began wiping his cheeks with the back of his hand. When Jack was done the whole place erupted once again. Blaine walked forward to Jack in a daze and pulled him in to a big hug.

"Thank you," he whispered. Jack hugged him back fiercely. All around them people were moving and parents were coming to congratulate their kids. Blaine and Jack stayed oblivious to it all in their own untouchable space. Finally Blaine released his hold and took a step back getting eye contact with Jack.

"You know that I'm not leaving for a few months right?"

Jack nodded. "July, I know."

"And you know, that no matter what happens between me and Kurt or you and the Hummels, we are family now and so even though I will be in Chicago, I'm not leaving you behind, right?"

Jack smiled a despairing look. "Yeah, but you won't be here. I won't see you everyday."

Blaine's heart broke a bit. He sometimes wondered how many times his heart would break for this kid, but somehow he knew that it probably would never stop. He had no answer to Jack's comment because it was pure truth. He just pulled him back in to a hug and held on.

"I'll always be here for you Jack. Whenever you need me, I promise I will be there, by phone or in person, I will be there."

Jack just nodded in to Blaine's shirt.

* * *

Jack watched as Blaine and Kurt made the rounds of the room and met with happy, grateful parents. His heart ached deeply. He could not help but feel that he was being left behind by the people who he cared about most in the World. He sat watching the easy grace with which they now moved with each other. They were so in sync it was a bit nauseating, but if he was honest, he hoped to one day be in a relationship like that so that he could experience what it was like to be loved that simply and deeply by someone else.

He put his chin in his hand and scuffed his shoe in to the floor. He smelt Carol's perfume before she sat down beside him. He glanced up at her slightly and then moved to sit closer to her as she put her arm around him in a hug.

"You did amazingly today, Jack. I am so proud of you."

Jack felt his heart glow. He had missed this so much. He had missed having a mother who was there for him and who noticed when he did well.

"Did you tell Blaine how well you audition went?"

"No."

"Oh honey. Why not? He'll be so happy for you."

"I know. I will. He's a bit busy at the moment."

Carol pulled him in tighter and kissed him on his head like she sometimes did to Jonah. A part of him wanted to protest that he was not a kid but secretly he loved it, so he just let it go.

"You know," Carol said, "Burt was talking to Kurt today. Kurt told him that he and Blaine are looking for a two bedroom flat in Chicago." Jack held very still wondering what was coming next. "Kurt said that it was important to him and Blaine that you always had somewhere to stay with them, that you would always feel a part of their lives. They might be leaving Ohio Jack, but they definitely are not leaving you. OK buddy?"

Jack sat up and looked at her.

"Really?"

"Really."

Carol reached out and wiped a tear away from Jack's cheek that he had not even realised had fallen.

"Oh Honey. I need you to understand this. You are part of our family now Jack. Burt and I will look after you and be there for you until you don't want us to do that anymore. Blaine and Kurt will always be a short jump away and so will Finn and Shannon. We will all help you out and look after you. OK? You hear me?"

Jack smiled and bit his lip a bit. He remembered that tone of voice, but he had not heard it in a very long time.

His eyes teared up as he buried himself back in to Carol's embrace.

"I hear you, Mom," he answered.

* * *

_The End (Until the Sequel...probably!)_

_Thank you all so much for your amazing kindness and support. I have loved reading every single one of your reviews and it has been humbling and exciting knowing that there were so many people along for the ride._

_I have a lot of ideas for a follow up story to this one so I just need to play around a bit and see if they make any sense on paper._

_Until then, I am playing with another story, Reform Me, about an AU Kurt and Blaine meeting as students in a school not that unlike TH. Do come join in that ride too. I quite like the idea of playing with the harder edges of both of these characters. Let me know what you think._

_Please review this chapter and the story overall. That was a pretty intense four months of my life that it took to write this. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did._

_Much love. X_


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